The document discusses India's reservation policies and affirmative action programs. It outlines that quotas exist for underrepresented groups like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes in government jobs, public education, and political positions. Private companies like Tata have also voluntarily implemented affirmative action programs through initiatives like skills training and relaxed hiring criteria for disadvantaged groups. While the policies have increased representation, issues around merit dilution and lower productivity in private industry remain. An ideal solution would be to remove all reservation criteria and ensure non-discrimination.

1. THE RESERVATION POLICIES OF
INDIA
AND THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONS TAKEN
BY THE INDUSTRIES

2. “I try to look upon the problem not in the sense of
religious minority,
but rather in the sense of helping backward
groups in the country.
I do not look at it from a religious point of view or
a caste point of view,
but from a caste point of view that a backward
class ought to be helped, and I am glad that this
reservation will be limited to ten years…”
-Jawaharlal Nehru
addressing the Constituent Assembly,
May, 1949.

3. Objectives
• In India, the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled
Tribes (STs), which together constitute a quarter of
the total population, have long suffered from
discrimination and exclusion.
• This is reflected in a lack of access to income. They
also experience resistance, violence and even
atrocities in their attempts to secure human rights
and lawful entitlements.
• The discrimination and exclusion experienced by
these groups has resulted in severe deprivation and
poverty.

4. CONTD……
The Indian government’s approach towards these groups
consists of three main elements. These are:
1. legal and other safeguards against discrimination;
2. affirmative action measures in the state and state-
supported sector;
3. general developmental and empowerment measures in
the private sector.
•India’s current affirmation action policy, otherwise
known as the ‘reservation policy’, is operative in three
main spheres, namely appointment and promotion in
government services, admissions to public educational
institutions, and seats in Central, State and local
legislatures.

5. Background
1. Affirmative Action for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
communities is defined as a voluntary commitment by Indian
companies to help the Government and civil society in the national
endeavor to ensure equal opportunity to members of the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities.
2. Ambedkar pioneered the reservation policy as early as the 1920s,
mainly on the basis of widespread and ubiquitous discriminatory and
exclusionary character of Hindu society with devastating
consequences, particularly for former untouchables.
3. In April 2006, Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh called on
private sector industry to take affirmative action in education,
employment opportunities and employment for weaker sections.

6. Constitutional Provision
The basic approach was specified in Articles 14, 15(1), 16(1) and 16(2).
•Article 14 guaranteed equality to all: “The State shall not deny to any
person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within
the territory of India.” That was the fundamental guarantee.
•Article 15(1) made that guarantee specific in one particular: The State
shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
•Article 15(2 ) guaranteed equal access for everyone to public facilities
like wells, restaurants etc.
•Article 15(3) provided: “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State
from making any special provision for women and children.” Notice
again: the only categories for which special provisions were envisaged
were women and children. In particular, notice that no exceptions were
envisaged on the basis of castes.

7. •Article 16(1) made the fundamental guarantee of equality. “There
shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to
employment or appointment to any office under the State.”
•Article 16(2) did for governmental employment what Article 15(1)
did for a citizen’s living in general: “No citizen shall, on grounds
only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or
any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of,
any employment or office under the State.”
•Article 16(4) contained “Nothing in this article shall prevent the
State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments
or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which, in the
opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services
under the State.”

8. Beneficiary Groups of the Reservation System
•CASTE
•GENDER
•RELIGION
•STATUS AS A DOMICILE
•OTHERS

9. Caste
1. In central government funded higher education institutions,
22.5% of available seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC)
and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students (15% for SCs, 7.5% for
STs).This reservation percentage has been raised to 49.5%,by
including an additional 27% reservation for OBCs.
2. This ratio is followed even in Parliament and all elections
where a few constituencies are earmarked for those from
certain communities .

10. Gender
1. In 1993, a constitutional amendment in India called for a random one third
of village council leader, or pradhan, positions in gram panchayat to be
reserved for women.
2. The village council is responsible for the provision of village infrastructure –
such as public buildings, water, and roads – and for identifying government
program beneficiaries.
3. Recent research on the quota system has revealed that it has changed
perceptions of women’s abilities, improved women’s electoral chances, and
raised aspirations and educational attainment for adolescent girls.
4. There is a long-term plan to extend this reservation
to parliament and legislative assemblies. For instance, some law schools in
India have a 30% reservation for females.
5. Progressive political opinion in India is strongly in favor of providing
preferential treatment to women in order to create a level playing field for all
of its citizens.
6. The Women's Reservation Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 9 March
2010 by a majority vote of 186 members in favor and 1 against. It will now be
forwarded to the Lok Sabha, and if passed there, would be implemented.

11. Religion
1. The Tamil Nadu government has allotted 3.5% of seats each to Muslims and
Christians, thereby altering the OBC reservation to 23% from 30% (since it
excludes persons belonging to Other Backward Castes who are either Muslims
or Christians).
2. Andhra Pradesh's administration has introduced a law enabling 4%
reservations for Muslims. (contested in court)
3. Kerala Public Service Commission has a quota of 12% for Muslims.
4. Religious minority status educational institutes also have 50% reservation for
their particular religions.
5. The Central government has listed a number of Muslim communities
as backward Muslims, making them eligible for reservation. [However, neither
the religion of Islam nor Sikh-Panth advocate caste-based discrimination]. In
fact, in a 'Gurudwara' a Sikh priest acts as a 'granthi' (i.e. a chore reserved for
the 'Brahmins'), cleans the premises of the Gurudwara (acts like a 'shoodra'),
grows flowers and vegetables around the Gurudwara (like a 'vaish') and, if the
Gurudwara is assaulted, he competently fights like a warrior ('kshatriya).

12. Status as a Domicile
With few exceptions, all jobs under certain State governments are
reserved for those who are domiciled within the jurisdiction of that
government. For example, in Punjab Engineering College
(Chandigarh) 85% of seats were earlier reserved for Chandigarh-
domiciles—now it is 50%. There are also some seats reserved for the
Jammu and Kashmir 'migrants' in every Government-aided
educational institute.

13. Other
1. Some reservations are also made for:
2. Terrorist victims from Kashmir, e.g. in Punjab
3. Single Girl-Child (in Punjab)
4. Sons/daughters/grandsons/granddaughters of Freedom Fighters
5. Physically handicapped
6. Sports personalities
7. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) have a small percentage of reserved seats in
educational institutions. (Note : NRI reservations were removed from IIT in 2003)
8. Candidates sponsored by various organizations
9. Those who have served in the armed forces ('ex-serviceman' quota—because the
age of superannuation in the Military Service is much shorter than that in the
Civil posts; certain intakes are tenure-based, e.g. the contract for Short-Service
Commission is merely 8 years)
10. Dependents of armed forces personnel killed-in-action
11. Repatriates
12. Reservation in special schools of Government Undertakings/ PSUs, for the
children of their own employees (e.g. Army schools, PSU schools, etc.)
13. Paid pathway reservations in places of worship (e.g., Tirupathi Balaji]Temple,
Tiruthani Murugan (Balaji) temple)
14. Seat reservation for Senior citizens/ PH in public (bus) transport.

14. Educational impacts
 The second most important aspect of reservation policy relates
to education.
 The evidence indicates that there has been a large increase in
enrolment of SCs and STs in education institutions. In 1981, the
proportions of SCs and STs among total graduates were estimated
to be 3.3% and 0.8% respectively, far below their shares in total
population. By the late 1990s however, these figures had risen to
7.8% and 2.7%.

15. Political representation
• As described in the
previous section, seats
are reserved for SCs and
STs in Central and State
legislatures in
proportion to their
shares of population,
and these are mandatory
in nature.

16. Private sector
• The Tata group, with a legacy of commitment to the community, established
the group forum for affirmative action in November 2006.
• The Group Corporate Centre endorsed the Group Affirmative Action Policy
in April 2007, affirming a policy of positive discrimination where, everything
else being equal, Tata companies were exhorted to employ more members of
the SC/ST communities and engage more firms owned by SC/ST members
as business associates.
• Tata companies are exploring newer and more innovative ways to assimilate
SC/ST communities into the mainstream and give them a helping hand.

17. Initiatives taken by TATA
• Tata Steel has been
striving for the cause of
the scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes in the
spirit of affirmative action.
Its focus population
includes the SC/ST
communities in the state es
of Jharkhand, Orissa and
Chhattisgarh.
• The company recognizes
that diversity in the
workplace positively
impacts business. It
ensures equal employment
opportunities and provides
training to develop the
socially disadvantaged.
Approximately 20 per cent
of the company’s
workforce comprises
members of the SC/ST
communities

18. Tata refractories
1. Tata Refractories (TRL) is
totally committed to
affirmative action initiatives
for the benefit of SC/ST
communities. It has a well-
articulated affirmative action
policy and a code of conduct
for affirmative action.
2. TRL has taken a major step
by establishing the Self
Employment Skill
Development Institute
(SESDI) in Belpahar for
unemployed youth,
particularly those belonging to
the SC/ST communities.
3. It has already trained 301
youths in 18 batches in various
trades. Around 80 per cent of
the successful candidates have
either found gainful
employment or have opted to
start their own enterprises.
4. The eligibility criteria are
relaxed to accommodate more
SC/ST candidates."The
relaxation is with reference to
the height of the candidate
and the marks achieved.

19. Implementation issues
• Currently, the reservation policy applies to government
and government supported sectors only, and no hard
bound rule for the private sector.
• There has been a striking increase in the number of SC
and ST government employees.
• The formal reservation policy in the government sector
and the informal affirmative action policy in the private
sector have also contributed to an improvement in the
human development of SCs and STs.

20. Contd..
• During the course of the
implementation of
India’s reservation
policy, some problems
have become apparent.
• Despite the
improvement in human
development among SCs
and STs, disparities in
attainment with non-
SCs and non-STs persist
even to this day.

21. Demerits
• The employment in private is solely on the basis of
merit and talent. While much is being done, much
more remains to be done because of the following
beliefs:
• Cost effectiveness: Most of the industry spokesmen
have argued that reservation will ruin their competitive
edge because of relaxation of merit as the sole criterion
for selecting the workforce.
• Lower Productivity Level: The dilution of merit in the
name of reservation will impose a cost (in terms of
lower labour productivity) on the industries, which
may not be able to compete in the global markets.

22. SOLUTION….
• The reservation on any basis must be removed and oath
should be taken not to discriminate any person on any
grounds like caste , class, religion etc..
• Lets abandon all barriers so the nation will be in true sense
unity in diversity…
• The motto should be :
• ONE NATION ONE HEART ONE WAY!!