Sometimes timing is all. The other day, when RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, speaking to the Sangh Parivar journal, Organiser, expressed the wish for a total review of the reservation policy, he had not reckoned with the political class’s propensity to twist and turn such words to its own partisan ends. But that is exactly what happened. Lalu Prasad Yadav, the convicted and clownish leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, immediately misinterpreted Bhagwat’s well-meaning words to suggest that he had called for an end to reservations. Of course, the RSS chief had not suggested any such thing even edgeways, but then politicians will be politicians and must try and turn everything to their own advantage. Therefore, the RSS did well to clarify that the Sarsanghchalak had not demanded an end to reservations. Asking for a review of the implementation of the reservations policy with a view to assess its gains and to pinpoint its shortcomings so that it can be further fine-tuned for delivering maximum benefits for the targeted sections is not the same thing as calling for an end to reservations for one or the other group. Indeed, in order to ensure that a relook at the entire gamut of reservations policy was fair and non-partisan, Bhagwat suggested that the task be performed by widely-respected academicians/experts who are unconnected with politics.
In short, he gave vent to the prevalent feeling among a large section of the people who too have come to the conclusion that reservations as a policy tool is more about partisan politics than about improving the socio-economic lot of the targeted groups. But as we said, the timing of Bhagwat’s remark was inopportune.
Since the BJP is closely identified with the RSS, it feared that Bhagwat’s remarks would be exploited by the Nitish-Lalu combine to embarrass it in the on-going campaign for the Bihar Assembly. It mattered little that several leaders of the Congress Party, which is an integral part of the so-called anti-BJP grand alliance in Bihar, have on their own, publicly called for a comprehensive review of the reservation policy. Former UPA ministers and leading lights of the Congress Party, Manish Tiwari and Jitin Prasada, have pressed for such a review. In fact, Rajiv Gandhi had successfully resisted the implementation of the Mandal reservations but had called for a relook at those for the SCs and STs as well. It is often forgotten that the founding fathers had provided for reservations for the SCs and STs only for the first decade of the Constitution. That these have failed to lift the traditionally suppressed and downtrodden is the only reason why these should be continued. However, if a review results in further improving the implementation and the eventual outcomes, it ought to be welcome. Unfortunately, the issue of reservations has acquired heavy political overtones and a sober debate without inviting the charge of ulterior motives seems well-nigh impossible. That such a debate has become unavoidable can be gauged from the current unrest in Gujarat where traditionally dominant Patels have mounted an aggressive challenge to the present system of reservations. Elsewhere too there are agitations galore for inclusion in the reserved category.
In Rajasthan, the Vasundhara Raje Government has risked a rap by the apex court by extending the reservations to Gurjars and Jats in a clear breach of the court-mandated 49 percent cap. If, in view of the above, anyone still remains unconvinced about the need for a thorough review of the entire reservation system, there is little one can say about his power of comprehension. All others would find Bhagwat’s suggestion most welcome. Hopefully, people are intelligent enough to see through those who have latched on Bhagwat’s most innocuous of suggestions for their own partisan ends. Political parties are prisoners of populism. They feel obliged to play the reservation card for votes even if the policy fails to achieve the desired end of pulling a targeted group or caste out of the morass of poverty and ignorance. Maybe a group of independent public intellectuals and such like persons would canvass for a thorough review of the reservation policy. It will only be in the interest of those already under the reservation net by making its delivery better and sharper.
