Tag: Mandal Commission

While there has been confusion reigning in on the subject of social divisions,Gandhi, in his own self-styled avatar of one who can and should comment and contribute to any or all social and religious issues,whether it makes sense or not, muddled the waters by calling a group as 'Harijans'. "Harijan (Hindustani: हरिजन (Devanagari), ہریجن (Nastaleeq); translation: "child of God") was a term used by Mohandas Gandhi for Dalits. Gandhi said it was wrong to call people "untouchable", and called them Harijans, which means children of God. It is still in wide use especially in Gandhi's home state ofGujarat.(wiki) As things stood they were confusing; Gandhi added to it by giving a new name Harijan, Child of God as if there were not enough names! What exactly happened is that people increased their vocabulary for a non-existent class. So the terms that are used denote specifically anything and has become a tool in the hands of Politicians to garner votes. There is also a confusion about the terms Untouchability ,Reservations and SC ST.. These Terms are used sa if they are interchangeable. We have seen , to an extent what Untouchability is or is not. More points on this to follow. on this later, What is Reservation? "Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well-being of backward and under-represented communities defined primarily by their 'caste' (quota-system based on 'gender' or 'religion'). These are laws (both Constitutional and statutory) or merely local rules/regulations/practices (not derived from any Act passed by the Parliament or State-Legislature) wherein a certain percentage of total available vacancies in educational institutes and government jobs are set aside for people from backward communities and others.Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) are the primary beneficiaries of the reservation policies under the Constitution — with the object of ensuring a level playing field.(wiki) That is on a Non existent concept the whole system was devised. There is no clear concept of the yard stick to apply to determine which constitute a SC . As a result whoever can gather muscle strength and crowd can demand inclusion in the Reservation quota. An depending on the exigencies of Political climate the parties as VP Singh did by The Mandal Commission. If there has been a genuine concern for the downtrodden, the yard stick of Economic status would have been fixed. That was not to be, because Politicians would never have had a chance to polarize the polity to garner Votes if they had fixed economic criteria as the factor for extending benefits. In Life there is no equalizer greater than Money. If you are rich or occupy an important position, people flock to you, no body cares about your roots.