“You cannot build anything on the foundation of caste. You cannot build up a nation. You cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundation of caste will crack and will never be a whole." BR Ambedkar.
What we are doing now is tantamount to betraying the forefathers who wrote the Constitution. With no intentions to eliminate inequalities, we are doing everything possible to strengthen the same. Reservation was brought for ten years as a project. Employment was one aspect but political parties were supposed to sensitise the nation and eliminate discrimination but Indian politicians started using reservations to divide the society. Nobody is ashamed that the castes that were not recognized as oppressed in 1947 and were not included in the SC/ST list are being added now and then as these can be lured to vote favourably.
The country should not forget the Mandal turmoil India faced in 1990.
When the SC/ST quota could not be increased any further, the former prime minister VP Singh under threat of losing power, released the Mandal genie out of the bottle. In true terms, it did not make much difference! On one hand, 27 per cent of government jobs were being snatched from the general category on the other hand 27 per cent population was also leaving the general category to take benefit of this quota. The small difference was that a small section of meritorious applicants of the general category would not have access to these seats. If done with planning and educating the masses it would have been a smooth transition. However, the politicians wanted to reap the benefits immediately and implemented it without consultation. As a result, the whole nation was on fire, young students indulged in self-immolation, and cases were filed in the Supreme Court. Senior lawyer Nani Palakhivala defended the aspiration of youth, and a clause of eliminating the creamy layer was added to the reservation policy. Politicians, media, and administration were dividing the society into pro-reservation and anti-reservation lobbies, The country paid a very heavy price.
Why the Bihar chief minister does not want Sabka Vikas?
Sukumar Murlidharan wrote about central government in ‘Social Scientist Volume 18 no 10 in October 1990,
“The States’s capacity to underwrite political stability through economic redistribution – always limited- is today virtually non-existent. The fiscal crisis embodies an objective threat to the participative politics processes of representative democracy”
The same is true today for Bihar. Despite being chief minister for about 20 years by allying with diametrically opposite ideological partners, there is nothing remarkable to showcase except the insatiable hunger for power. While politicians are instigating reservation agitation here and there, the youth of India has created 108 unicorns worth 340.8 billion U.S. dollars as of 31st March 2023. Out of 36000 startups flourishing in India, it is very difficult for entrepreneurs who plan to set up their startups in Bihar to get much-accelerated encouragement and funding. Focus on law-and-order improvement and providing infrastructure can go a long way. Bihar has been a centre for education, art, and trade for millennials, and the spirit still lives in people. From Champaran satyagraha in 1917 to the JP movement of 1974 Bihar has initiated many movements without reaping the benefit.
As a result, the distressed Bihar CM has taken a dangerous step. A leader who was called Sushasan Babu once is now bent upon to divide and ruling. Whether the initiative is self-defeating or not my test is simple! Who is supporting the move? This time it is Al Jazeera that has published an article to support caste-based census and it has not hidden its motive as well. Let us examine the headline.
“How a landmark caste census in India threatens Modi’s grip on power
The findings have the potential to upend the country’s politics”. Kunal Purohit Oct 4 2023.
One should feel grateful to the news portal as it has voluntarily exposed itself that the intentions are not about building a better India but to oust the present government.
In the past 9 years, India has worked hard to ensure ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’ and the time has come to check the effectiveness.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has rightly said,
“Caste coalitions will disintegrate in front of good governance”
Now the million-dollar question is will it happen on its own? The answer is a big no and the reason is deep rooted affinity to the caste politics nurtured by politician for their advantage.
Why ‘Sabka Sath and Sabka Vikas’ is a better proposition.
The caste-based reservation helps uplift individuals of a particular caste but it does not lead to the overall development of the COMMUNITY as a whole. As the people who got elevated, migrate to better cities. As a result, despite 70 years of reservation, there is marginal improvement in social status. But when road, water, electricity, cooking gas, and health services have reached every village the change is visible. A toilet in own house has given more self-respect than many useless schemes put together. The Champions are emerging from areas that were notorious for insurgency. Boxers and gymnasts are coming from the northeast. Padma awards are being won by people doing genuine work in far-flung areas.
Why Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas is viable today when a few years ago, even helping the SC and ST communities was difficult?
Rising India has the potential to take care of every Indian citizen without looking at his caste creed or sex. Covid vaccination is one such proof. The country administered over 200 crore vaccines without asking about caste or religion. The digital revolution has transformed everything. The direct transfer of subsidy has saved billions of rupees. Jandhan accounts have taken banking to the last mile. It is not the India about which the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had said,” Of every rupee spent by the government, only 15 paise reached the intended beneficiary”. With control on leakage, now the same amount of money can provide 7 times better results. The prime minister has succeeded in persuading crores of rich people to voluntarily surrender cooking gas subsidies.
The country is going to export mobiles worth crossing Rs 120,000 crore in this financial year compared to Rs 90,000 crore in the last financial year with 90. GST collections are increasing every month providing more money for development work. Naysayers will discount it saying that it is all assembled but the same was said for Maruti cars and Hero Honda bikes three decades ago. Splitting the pie is not the solution but multiplying the pie is. If the country is to move forward recognising caste is not the solution but empowering the communities with skills to generate employment is the key.
Creating jobs outside the organized sector has created communities that are not dependent on reservations or subsidies hence caste does not matter.
Skill India, make in India, Startup India Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), Stand-Up India. national Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) Udyog Aadhaar Registration Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) are the initiatives that are empowering people with an entrepreneurial mindset. These schemes along with ever-improving ‘ease of doing business’ have allowed India to register a better growth rate despite the hard-hitting COVID-19 endemic.
A case study
The article may look like the election manifesto of a political party but the truth remains that as of June 30th, 2022, about 8.39 crore rural poor women have been mobilized into more than 76.94 lakh Self Help Groups (20 JUL 2022 6:35 PM by PIB Delhi).
This is what the author meant by ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’. The greatest achievement is that Rs. 5.20 lakh crore bank credit accessed by SHGs under DAY-NRLM from FY 2013-14. This miracle is the result of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY – NRLM) across the country in a mission mode with the objective of organizing the rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and continuously nurturing and supporting them till they attain an appreciable increase in incomes over a period of time and improve their quality of life and come out of abject poverty. It means that the government has empowered women SHG without using subsidies. Unfortunately, this is not considered as creation of jobs as political pundits are only worried about caste and job reservation. They have developed myopia which can not see the nation transforming SHGs into job providers.
Conclusion
The clerical mindset developed by Macaulay’s education will not vanish in a day. Even though the private job sector in India may have grown by leaps and bounds in recent decades, a government job remains a popular choice even today. Other than reasonable pay, a government job comes with social status, job security, health insurance, housing, and many other benefits. During COVID-19's endemic people were losing jobs and returning home, but government employees were enjoying the release of dearness allowance with ever-increasing inflation. Over and above politicians have instigated the public to the level that the ordinary Indian thinks that he has been oppressed for millennials and that a reservation in a government job is the only remedy. It is a pity that the politicians ruling states like Himachal have opted for financial hara-kiri by reviving old pension schemes. If the taxes collected from hard-earned money are being squandered like this more and more people will be eager to join a limited number of government jobs and the general public will remain on the receiving end.
Politicians may succeed in raising the hopes but they have no plan to fulfil the same. A developed city is not the one that has more cars but the one that provides quality transportation despite not having Cars, Similarly, a developed country is not the one where most people aspire for government jobs but the one where people are not bothered about government jobs. India has charted a path of empowerment and entrepreneurship. The 2024 general election will be a Kurukshetra where on one side will be the divide-and-rule forces seeking votes for a caste-based coalition and on the other side will be Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas warriors. Time to test the validity of the Al Jazeera hypothesis.
By Rakesh Kumar
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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