RESERVATION AND THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY

Submitted to:
Mr.KAMAL NARAYAN
Faculty
Facul Member, H.N.L.U.

Submitted by:
SOURAV KUMAR VERMA
SEMESTER I.
I SECTION C
ROLL NO. - 148
B.A. LL.B (Hons.)

Date of submission-15
su october 2018

Hidayatullah National Law University

Upar
Uparwara Post, Abhanpur,

New Raipur – 490002 (C.G.)

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DECLARATION

I, sourav kumar verma,, hereby declare that this project work is an original piece of research
and is not a result of plagiarism, the sources of data has been adopted from other sources as
well and proper mention about such sources has been made in the form of bibliography.

I have completed this project work under the guidance of Mr kamal narayan, faculty
of Political Science, Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur (C.G).

Name : sourav kumar verma

Semester : I

Section : c

Roll number : 148

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost I would like to thank my teacher,Mr kamal narayan. for providing me the
topic of my interest. Also I would like to thank our Vice Chancellor sir.

Thanks to the God, Parents and all the members of HNLU family who gave me the strength
to accomplish the project with sheer hard work and honesty.

I also owe my gratitude towards University Administration for providing me all kinds of
required facilities with good Library and IT lab. This helps me in making the project and
completing it. My special thanks to Library Staff and IT staff for equipping me with the
necessary data and websites from the internet.

This Project venture has been made possible due to the generous co-operation of various
persons. To list them all is not possible, even to repay them in words is beyond the domain of
my lexicon. I would also like to extend my warm and sincere thanks to all my colleagues,
who contributed in innumerable ways in the accomplishment of this project.

Name : sourav kumar verma

Semester : 1.

Section : c

Roll number :148

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CONTENT

1. DECLARATION

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

3. INTRODUCTION

4. OBJECTIVES

5. SCOPE OF WORK

6. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

7. A BRIEF OVERVIEW

8. DIFFERENT TYPES OF EQUALITY

9. COMMITTEES AND COMMISSION ON THE ISSUE

10. SOLUTION TO REMOVE EVIL

11. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGE OF RESERVATION

12. CONCLUSION

13. REFERENCE
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INTRODUCTION

PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY

The concept of equality has been derived from Preamble of the Indian Constitution which
guarantees equality of status and opportunity and Article 14 of the Indian Constitution which
states that “the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal
protection of the laws within the territory of India”. The first expression ‘equality before the
law’ which is taken from the English common law, is a declaration of equality of all persons
within the territory of India, implying thereby the absence of any privilege in favour of any
individual
Reservation is a policy designed to redress past discrimination against lower classes and
minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities.
Reservation is an attempt to promote equal opportunity. It is often instituted in government
and educational settings to ensure that minority groups within a society are included in all
programs. The justification for reservation is to compensate for past discrimination,
persecution or exploitation by the ruling class of a culture or to address existing
discrimination. The principle of affirmative action is to promote social equality through the
preferential treatment of socioeconomically disadvantaged people. More over the basic aim
of reservation is to create social equality. Social equality is a social state of affairs in which
all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect.
At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting
rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the extent of property rights. However, it also
includes access to education, health care and other social securities. It also includes equal
opportunities and obligations, and so involves the whole society. Social equality refers to
social, rather than economic, or income equality.
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OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The study of this project aims to:

 Meaning of reservation
 Study about why reservation is required
 Different types of equality
 Suggestion to remove the problem
 Advantages and disadvantages of reservation
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SCOPE OF WORK

This project has been carried out in the area of RESERVATION AND THE PRINCIPAL OF
EQUALITY. My study has also mentioned the various types of equality . But the main focus
is on why equality and reservation is important and how to remove the negative ideas about
the reservation and equality.
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METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

This project work has been carried out following the descriptive analytical approach. This
project basically deals with the reservation and the principal of equality which has been
defined and interpreted very well. Books & other references as guided by faculty of Political
Science were primarily helpful for the completion of this project.
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A BRIEF OVERVIEW

Equality has been promised by State under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution and
Article 14 is considered as the soul of the Indian Constitution because without equality no
country can be considered as republic and it is the need of equality which have forced human
beings to come under state so that they can get security, equal protection of law and equality
in all aspects. In our Preamble we have adopted the word equality from French Revolution
which itself shows the aims of our Constitution and Article 14 further is a step forward
towards the accomplishment of that aim. Equality itself means that like should be treated
alike and not unlike should be treated like, That is why Article 14 permits reasonable
classification between likes and unlikes so that unlike should be given special treatment to
bring them on the equal footing with the likes and in fact identical treatment in unequal
circumstances would itself amount to inequality.Goal of equality will not be considered to be
achieved till everyone will be on the equal footing. Thus idea to attain equality has given
birth to the concept of reservation or affirmative action. Reservation is a special treatment
given to the unlikes till they come on the equal footing with the likes in the society.
Reservation is a concept developed with a view to provide special help to the weak so that
they can overcome their weakness and can compete with the strong. In landmark judgments
like D.V. Bakshi v. Union of India and Air India v. Nargesh Mirza. Supreme Court has given
wonderful Judgments which proves that which has proved that inequality anywhere will
never be tolerated and therefore Judgments of these cases have established new landmarks in
the concept of equality. Equality is a state of complete justice and in order to attain it
reservation is a powerful remedy. Reservation have proved to be highly successful in many
countries for e.g. U.S. has affirmative action for blacks and in various other countries
reservation is playing major role in narrowing the gap between different classes.

In the historic Mandal Commission case, the Supreme Court by the 6-3 majority has held that
the sub classification of the backward classes into more backward classes and backward
classes can be done for the purpose of Article 16(4).But as a result of sub classification the
reservation cannot exceed more than 50 percent. The distinction should be based on the
degree of social backwardness. In fact such classification would be necessary to help the
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more backward classes otherwise those of the Backward Classes who are little more
advanced than the more backward classes might take away all the seats. “Thus reservation
and equality are two sides of the same coin and if equality is the aim then reservation is the
best possible way to reach that aim”
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF EQUALITY

1. Natural Equality:

Despite the fact that men differ in respect of their physical features, psychological traits,
mental abilities and capacities, all humans are to be treated as equal humans. All are to be
considered worthy of enjoying all human rights and freedoms.

2. Social Equality:

It stands for equal rights and opportunities for development for all classes of people without
any discrimination.

Specifically, it stands for:

(i) Absence of special privileges for any class or caste or religions group or an ethnic group;

(ii) Prohibition of discrimination against any one on the basis of caste, colour, creed, religion,
sex and place of birth;

(iii) Free access to public places for all the people, i.e. no social segregation; and

(iv) Equality of opportunity for all people. It however accepts the concept of protective
discrimination in favour of all weaker sections of society.

A modern central theme of social equality is to end gender inequality, to ensure equal status
and opportunities to the women and to ensure equal rights of male and female children to live
and develop.
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3. Civil Equality:

It stands for the grant of equal rights and freedoms to all the people and social groups. All the
people are to be treated equal before Law.

4. Political Equality:

It stands for equal opportunities for participation of all in the political process. This involves
the concept of grant of equal political rights for all the citizens with some uniform
qualifications for everyone.

5. Economic Equality:

Economic equality does not mean equal treatment or equal reward or equal wages for all. It
stands for fair and adequate opportunities to all for work and for earning of their livelihoods.
It also means that primary needs of all should be met before the special needs of few are
satisfied. The gap between rich and poor should be minimum. There should be equitable
distribution of wealth and resources in the society.

6. Legal Equality:

Finally, Legal Equality stands for equality before law, equal subjection of all to the same
legal code and equal opportunity for all to secure legal protection of their rights and freedom.
There should rule of lawand laws must be equally binding foe all. In every society equality
must be ensured in all these forms.
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COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONS ON THE

ISSUE OF RESERVATION:

a. 1882 – Hunter Commission was appointed. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule made a demand of
free and compulsory education for all along with proportionate reservation/representation in
government jobs.

b. 1953-Kalelkar Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and
educationally backward class. The report was accepted as far as Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes were concerned. The recommendations for OBC’s were rejected.

c. 1979-Mandal Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and
educationally backward. The commission didn’t have exact figures for a sub-caste, known as
the Other Backward Class (OBC), and used the 1930 census data, further classifying 1,257
communities as backward, to estimate the OBC population at 52%.ln 1980, the commission
submitted a report, and recommended changes to the existing quotas, increasing them from
22% to 49.5%.ln 1990, the Mandal commission recommendations were implemented in
Government Jobs by Vishwanath Pratap Singh. Student Organisations launched nationwide
agitations. Rajiv Goswami, a Delhi university student attempted self-immolation. Many
students followed suit.

d. 2003- The Sachar Committee headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar, and including Sayyid
Hamid, Dr. T.K. Ooman, M.A. Basith, Dr.Akhtar Majeed, Dr.Abu Saleh Shariff and
Dr.Rakesh Basant was appointed for preparation of a report on the social, economic and
educational status of the Muslim community of India. Dr.Syed Zafar Mahmood was the civil
servant appointed by the PM as Officer on Special Duty to the Committee. The committee
submitted its report in the year 2006.
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TO REMOVE THIS EVIL IT SUGGESTED THE

FOLLOWING

Make education mandatory and free for all till age of 15.Propose reservation based on
economic status. Provide opportunity to students to earn while they study. Instead of
introducing reservations for these backward classes what is required is to bring about
revolutionary changes in our education system at the grass-root level. When proper education
is not provided to children belonging to such categories during the primary stage itself then
on what basis are the reservations provided at a subsequent stage.

Reservations are nothing but means to prosper the vote banks of politicians. They are
hindering the country’s growth, development and competency in all aspects. On one hand the
preamble of our constitution states that we are a free, democratic and sovereign nation and on
the other hand reservation system is chaining all these aspects into its clutches. It is creating
disparity and differences amongst the people. The constitution lays down that every child has
a right to education and no where expresses that any child belonging to a backward class has
a little more of this right than the general category. By reserving one category against another
creates a feeling of division which is now resulting in a chaos with every small section of the
society asking for it.

Reservations on the basis of caste and not on the basis of condition are bad and unacceptable.
Fair and just reservations to uplift the people with poor conditions of life, those who don’t
have meals to eat, clothes to wear and no home to live in. They shall be made on the basis of
factors such as gender as women are more disadvantaged than men since primitive times,
domicile, family education, family employment, family property, family income and if any
disabilities and traumas. The process of reservation should be such that it filters the truly
economically deprived individuals and bring them all to justice.

Thus reservations are anti-thesis of development and equality. We don’t need reservations
based on castes or religion but only to actually provide aid to those who have minimal
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resources; and merit should be given equal and due importance in admission procedures as
well employment opportunities. This way we would be successful in removing caste
discrimination and unite the economically rich together in helping the economically poor,
irrespective of their castes.
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ADVANTAGES OF RESERVATION SYSTEM

1. It result in India developing faster, because many backward communities who

are economically, socially and mentally backward due to several reasons and
cannot compete in open competition, get included in education and jobs without
much competition. Because of this the jobs and education doesn't get acquired by
only those advantaged group, who comprises only around 15-20% of population,
and it get spread to around 50% of population by reservation, and this is how
Reservation develops India fastly. Had there been no reservation, most people of
India hadn't developed this much what they now, and development had been
reached only to 15-20% of population, who are advantageous group to do better in
open competition. Think about the India where only 15-20% who only comes from
few particular communities, hold all the jobs and their children getting education in
good institutions, and the same communities are doing good again and again, and
its continually rotating, in education and acquiring jobs because of their
advantageous economical and social position. The rest 80-85% will remained poor
for longer time as very few from them break this vicious cycle of poverty and make
their way towards prosperity. How it will be when this will be the case? India will
not develop faster. So because of reservation India develops faster, and very faster
than what India had developed without reservation.

2. It develops the business and businessman to a greater extent: I feel that few
people understands that the probability of an individual (child) living a prosperous
and sufficient lifestyle in future depends upon how prosperous people are there
around him. In the same way, growth of a businessmen very much depends upon
how rich and prosperous his customers are. If a businessman have 1000 customers
of below poverty line, he is less likely to grow in economical status much in
comparison to a businessman who have only 10 customers of very rich class. So,
IMO being rich in comparison to others is not important to really being rich, but
having rich customers is important for growth of the business, and for that we don't
need to seek more rich customers, but to make our customers richer. Indians don't
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seems to understand this, and they like to keep others poor while they themselves
becoming prosperous, and don't understand how others being poor severely
influence them and their children prosperity. Indians keep pulling other people's
legs for not letting them grow economically and socially. It has to be understood
that people around us being prosperous is very important for our prosperity, and
this situation is achieved through Reservation policy, as it develops those who may
not achieve jobs and better education due to some of their disadvantages. It is
because of Reservations that India is growing as a big consumer market, and Indian
businessmans are becoming richer and some have place in world's richest.
Reservation one way or the other effects all of our prosperity and richness, due to
which our people are now able to buy goods of luxury brands, and with Reservation
for assured development of everyone, we cannot be that prosperous, no matter how
rich we might have felt in comparison to our people. So, its very important to raise
people above from poverty, for our own prosperity, as more manpower means
strength, but manpower being poor is weakness, so we need to take away that
poverty from the manpower, for our own prosperity, and this is achieved by
reservation policy.

3. Help eradicating casteism, mixing different castes with each other, and
develop brotherhood: Think of a school where there is no SC, ST and OBCs with
UC, and only UCs are studying with other UCs in their schools. Same for the
schools for SCs, STs, OBCs, that they are studying with the same castes/class they
belongs to. Wouldn't it be a shame for our country? Think again, about that SCs,
STs, OBCs are not in the IITs, IIMs, AIIMS etc. Would it really be good to feel
about if there will be no SC, ST or OBC in these institutions? For some people, yes,
but, I am sure, that it will be unacceptable for most peoples in reality if they are
well educated and have morals. It can bring about serious questioning on caste
system and morals of the forefathers. Such things could be very dividing and
dissatisfying, and will either make society more discriminatory or make it more
rebelious. Some people may think that such situation is what exactly is desirable,
but I think it could be very undesirable situation. So such situation is not good, and
what reservation do is keep people away from such dividing, dissatisfying situation,
and most importantly it gives a chance to get mixed with each other, understand
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each other, befriend each other, and know that we are almost the same keeping
aside the influence and prejudices created by society itself. We are now befriend
with other castes, understand them, and even develop lifelong relationships, is all
because of reservations, indirectly. So what has not achieved by 1000s of years of
casteism in India, is getting achieved by reservation in just 65 years of reservation.

DISADVANTAGES OF RESERVATION SYSTEM

1. It is a form of ethnic discrimination.It’s working as a barrier for inter-caste marriages.

When a woman born in a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe marries to a person
belonging to a forward caste, her caste by birth does not change by virtue of the
marriage. A person born as a member of scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe has to
suffer from disadvantages, disabilities and indignities only by virtue of belonging to the
particular caste which he or she acquires involuntarily on birth. The suffering of such a
person by virtue of caste is not wiped out by a marriage with the person belonging to a
forward caste.The label attached to a person born into a scheduled caste or a scheduled
tribe continues notwithstanding the marriage

2. It’s a biggest enemy of meritocracy. The degradation of quality of students and

workers enrolled in different institutions. Many students of general caste lose their
seat in higher education due to the caste-based reservation. Every candidate will get
the equal opportunities to grab a seat and no deserving candidate will left out of the
opportunities which many times happens.

3. It’s propagating notion of caste based society instead of eliminating it. In urban
areas of India, the caste system isn't valid anymore. It's more about the economic
condition of a family than its caste nowadays. In rural areas, you still have the
concept of caste system. Still, it is much reduced from what it used to be with the
advent of education, government programmes, etc. Poor people from forward castes
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don’t have any social or economic advantage over rich people from backward
caste.If this prevails,it may result into the formation another backward caste of
people belonging from poor people of forward caste.

4. Beneficiaries of reservation are largely from dominant class in backward

castes.Marginalised section still remains marginalised. The basic purpose of the
Indian Constitution was to uplift the marginalized community. The constitution
indeed works for that and realise fundamental rights to empower the people which
would ensure economic and social democracy. The work for the benefit of the
people should be at first hand and it is essential to have community of purpose,
desire for welfare, loyalty to public ends and morality of co-operation as roots of
democracy and in this democracy the incoming of the 73 rd constitutional
amendment has indeed worked a lot.
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CONCLUSION

Indian reservation system has been a major success in improving the position of the
Backward Classes and past decades have shown remarkable development in position of
Backward and Oppressed Classes in India. Though our reservation system is an outcome of
huge amount of research by commissions and Government agencies like Mandal Commission
etc but even then somewhere our system is lacking on the applicability part also some fault
are there in identification of the Backward Classes because despite of giving so many years
of reservation their position have not been developed to that extent as it should have been.
Our present reservation system is caste based and it has been seen that the upper segment of
each class who are forward then the others are developing and are using maximum benefit of
reservation and also now they have attained both the economic equality as well as social
equality because they are economically sound now while the lower segment of the same cast
are still unaware of their rights of reservation and they are still backward. In order to equate
this inequality which is there in the same caste, the reservation policy should be based on the
economic condition basis so that each and every individual of this country who is backward
socially as well as economically will get equal chance to develop. Many castes are now
economically forward but still they socially backward. We need some new methods other
than caste based reservations in order to narrow this gap and to increase them socially.OBC
reservation percentage should increase from 27% because they are 52%[30] of our population
while ST and SC’s should get less reservation because they are 22.5% of our population but
still they have 22.5%[31] of seats reserved for them.
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REFERENCES

1. “An introduction to political theory” – O.P. Gauba

2. Article 16 of the Constitution of India Section 4, Constitution of India (1950; in
English). Retrieved on 2013-09-08
3. "Educational Safeguards". Department of Education. Government of India. Archived
from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 2011-11-27
4. http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/reservation-&-principle-of-equality-
479-1.html
5. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/political-science/equality-meaning-features-and-
types-of-equality/40362/
6. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/reservation-system-in-india-concept-
arguments-and-conclusions/24973/
7. https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-the-
reservation-system-in-India