Jaipur. Recently, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of the country has ruled that reservation can be given by creating a quota within the reservation quota given to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC-ST). The Supreme Court has allowed the state governments to have quota within quota. It has also made it clear that the states cannot take any decision on their own or with political motives. If this happens, it will be reviewed by the judiciary.
The Supreme Court also said that if the state government gives quota within quota to a particular caste, then it will have to do so on the basis of backwardness. It will also be seen that 100% quota should not be given to a single caste. The 7-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court has given this decision with a majority of 6:1. After this decision of the Supreme Court, discussions are going on in Rajasthan about it. Some are praising this decision while some want to reject it outright. Dausa MP Murarilal Meena has even accused the central government of ending reservation through this. At the same time, some people are also calling it justified.
Backward classes have received a big gift from the court
Parashar Narayan Sharma, who started the Samta Andolan, says that this decision of the court is in the interest of the whole country. This is a big gift from the court to the backward castes of both the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. The Supreme Court has opened the way for political parties. Parashar started the Samta Andolan 20 years ago and started fighting a legal battle on the issue of reservation through it. He has been knocking the doors of the courts through this platform since February 2005.
There is no threat of any ethnic conflict
Parashar Narayan, founder president of Samta Andolan, says that this decision is not on creamy layer. It is about sub-categorization of reservation. There is no danger of any kind of caste conflict in this. After every decision, there is immediate anger. But after understanding the whole story, it calms down. According to Sharma, on the petition of Shuganlal Bhil, Rajasthan High Court Jodhpur Bench had given the decision in February 2014 that Meena community should not be given the benefit of ST reservation. It should be implemented.
It can be easily seen who has how much representation
The notification of creamy layer in OBC issued by the centre and state can be implemented here in the same way. There is no problem in implementing it in the current situation of Rajasthan. Everything can be done within a month. Sharma says that caste census of SC and ST is done in every census. The last census was done in 2011. The caste-wise representation in government jobs in the centre and states can be easily seen.
Punjab’s decision applies to everyone – Meghwal Mahasabha
Rajasthan Meghwal Mahasabha’s state president Indraraj Meghwal says that we do not agree with this decision. This will increase the scope of fraud in the departments doing recruitment. This is not technically possible because what will be the criteria to determine who is backward to what extent. The Supreme Court has definitely given the judgment but justice has not been done. We were not heard in this case. How can the decision on Punjab’s case be implemented on all the states.
Welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court
Advocate Ramdhan Sansi of Rajasthan’s ST-ST Samaj Sangharsh Samiti, who is deprived of reservation, welcomes this initiative of the Supreme Court. According to him, what has happened now should have happened long ago. A total of 59 castes are included in the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Out of these, only 5 or 6 castes have been getting the benefit of reservation for years. The remaining approximately 52 castes have remained deprived despite the provision of reservation. The benefits of the purpose for which reservation was provided in the Constitution could not be fully realised. Now the decision of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has raised new hopes.
Government’s silence raises questions
According to former Chief Secretary of Kerala and retired IAS officer Tikaram Meena, this decision of the Supreme Court is against the provisions of the Constitution. It is the job of the Parliament to make any kind of law in the country. He is of the opinion that the Supreme Court has ‘exceeded’ its jurisdiction here. It is also not legal for the Supreme Court to give this direction to the states to implement it in their states. This work should have been done by the Center. The silence of the government also raises many questions.
What is quota within quota?
The argument of the states before the Supreme Court was that there are some people among the Scheduled Castes who have received less representation in comparison to other Scheduled Castes despite reservation. Due to this, special provisions should be made within the quota within the quota, that is, within the quota of that particular class.
This is a 49 year old case from Punjab
This case reached the Supreme Court from Punjab. There is a provision of 25 percent reservation for scheduled castes in Punjab. In this, special preference was given to Mazhabi Sikhs and Valmiki community in the quota of scheduled castes. Due to this, this dispute reached the Supreme Court. The current decision has been given by a seven-member constitutional bench headed by the Chief Justice of the country DY Chandrachud. It has overturned the decision of five judges given in the EV Chinnaiya case in 2004. It was said that sub-classification cannot be done in SC and ST.
How much is the quota in the country at present?
At present, on an average, across the country, Scheduled Castes (SC) get 15 percent reservation while Scheduled Tribes (ST) get 7.5 percent reservation in government services and other seats. That is, there is a provision of 22.5 percent reservation for both the classes.
This is the math of reservation in Rajasthan
At present, in Rajasthan, 12 percent reservation is given to Scheduled Tribes (ST), 16 percent to Scheduled Castes (SC), 21 percent to backward classes, 5 percent to most backward classes (MBC) Gurjar, Raika, Raibari etc. and 10 percent to economically weaker section (EWC). There is a total reservation of 64 percent here. In Rajasthan, 59 castes are included in AC and 12 in ST. According to the Centre, 15 percent reservation is given to AC, 7.5 percent to ST, 27 percent to OBC and 10 percent to EWC.
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 5, 2024, 16:33 IST
