Manjhi singing RSS' tune on reservation a clever move
In the past few months, India has been jolted by frequent agitations, by dominant communities like the Jats in Haryana, Patels in Gujarat and Kapus in Andhra Pradesh, for reservation. In a veiled warning to them, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said that the prosperous should not ask for the benefits of reservation. On the need for excluding the creamy layer, even among the Dalits and tribals, from quota benefits, the RSS said there should be more thought on whether reservation was going to the most needy or not.
At a time when the RSS and several other voices have spoken out for a rethink on the caste-based reservation policy, two interesting reactions have come from two Dalit leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) - former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Both are prominent Dalit faces of the NDA from Bihar.
Manjhi, who is the president of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), announced he would not avail of reservation in the next elections, which he is entitled to because he is from a scheduled caste. Manjhi did not only say that he and his family members would contest the next elections from general constituencies, but he also urged others who had already benefited from reservation, to follow in his footsteps and give it up.
Manjhi’s announcement was in tune with what the RSS said. But he didn't push for its demand for exclusion of the creamy layer even among the Dalits and tribals from quota benefits. Rather, he called for a review of the reservation policy to examine if the quota for the scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) deserved to be raised in the context of an increase in the percentage of their population vis-a-vis the overall population.
His argument was that when quotas were put in place, the population of SCs was around 16 per cent. This had now increased to about 22 per cent, requiring an increase of their quota.
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| Paswan, the Dalit poster boy of the NDA, sings a totally different tune on the issue. |
Reports say Manjhi’s offer to give up reservation is a strategic move aimed at other Dalit leaders like Mayawati and Paswan. If prominent Dalits, Mahadalits and tribal leaders follow his example and forego reservation in favour of those who truly need it, many of them may lose elections.
Paswan, the Dalit poster boy of the NDA, sings a totally different tune on this issue. He has asked the government to take “affirmative action” and reserve jobs for SC/STs in the private sector to tackle the “increasing problem of Naxalism”.
"Why are youth drifting towards Naxalism? It is happening because they are not getting opportunities," Paswan said.
The Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) leader added: "Providing quota in private jobs will help cool down anger among SC and STs."
The minister said that those industries which were benefiting from the government, should reserve jobs, if not at Class I and Class II, at least at Class III and Class IV levels. He said that even in the media, there should be one per cent reservation for SC/STs.
So while one NDA leader wants affluent SCs and STs to voluntarily give up reservation, the other wants quota to be extended to the private sector. One has pledged that he or his family members won't take any quota benefits while the other thinks denial of jobs to SCs and STs in the private sector is one of the causes for Naxalism. While one may have pleased the RSS, the second has played to his constituents, that is SCs and STs.
Therefore, while one sounds rational, the other knows that no one cares for rationality in India's quota-driven polity.