Reservations on reservations

Affirmative action is the worst solution to the very real problem of discrimination, be it in India, or the US

Jeremy Carl Delhi

One of the first aspects of Indian life that makes an impression on foreign residents is the enduring prevalence and power of caste.  Nonetheless, much of India's young, urban elite is in denial about caste issues, and many insist that caste plays a declining or even minimal role in modern Indian life.

Interestingly enough, I have found that those who minimise the importance of caste almost invariably turn out to be Brahmins or other upper castes. I have seldom met a scheduled caste (SC) or scheduled tribe (ST) person among Delhi's "smart set", and those few who do make it, I suspect, have a very different view of caste issues. And despite occasional complaints about caste politics and reservations, I suspect there are very few Brahmins out there who would volunteer to switch places with a Dalit as a means of getting ahead in Indian society. One only needs to turn on the television, read the newspaper, or visit a village to discover caste politics alive and kicking, be it in elections in Bihar or the deprivation of relief for certain low-caste groups from their fair share of tsunami relief funds

Yes, caste discrimination is a problem in India. However, reservations are not the answer. Not only is it an imperfect solution, it is in fact a major and continuing cause of the problem. And with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government making noises about extending reservations into the private sector, it has perhaps never been more urgent that Indians look at caste discrimination and the reservations system openly and honestly.

My scepticism is motivated not just by my observations of India's experience, but also on my experience with "affirmative action" in my own country, the United States, which, while generally frowning on strict quotas such as those found in India, otherwise has many similarities to India's reservations system. The fact that reservations and affirmative action have created the same problems everywhere they have been tried has been amply demonstrated, the latest by Stanford professor Thomas Sowell in his book Affirmative Action Around the World.

If there are lessons from America for the Indian experience one is surely that past discrimination cannot be used as a universal reason for current low achievement. For example, Asian Americans have suffered numerous instances of past official and unofficial discrimination in the US. Yet, this has not kept them from achieving education and income levels that are significantly higher than US averages.  Meanwhile, other groups, such as Hispanics, have struggled to match these income achievements, despite having a far longer presence in the US.

Why reservations are wrong?

Reservations undermine the very real achievements of those from scheduled castes and tribes who succeed: When a scheduled caste person succeeds in government, medicine, or school admission, others immediately attribute this success to caste background — even though that person's success may rest on merit. Thus impressive accomplishments, often made at great difficulty and against significant discrimination, are unfairly devalued in the eyes of society.