Quota in SC quota

THE proposal for a quota within the Scheduled Castes reservation aims to rectify the inequitable distribution of benefits among these castes and hence it is a welcome instrument. Over the past few generations, ever since the quota regime was mandated by law to give the underprivileged and oppressed sections of society opportunities for representation in high political and bureaucratic offices, data points to the fact that such beneficiaries have mostly remained confined to a few families or sections that have already benefited from the quota. This has led to a skewed situation wherein the more backward among the SCs find themselves left out of the reckoning for jobs and education opportunities and remain marginalised.

This is mainly because the subsequent generations of the fringe sub-category people are unfairly pitted against the children of those who have got government jobs under the quota; the advantage enjoyed by the latter enables them to get reserved seats in premier educational institutions and government jobs. The distinctions among the SCs may, for example, range from a sub-group of agricultural labourers to the truly oppressed like those from the ‘manual scavenging’ category.

This has led to the outliers in various states agitating for a quota within the SC quota and moving courts over their demand. The matter is pending in the Supreme Court. As the government ponders over the pros and cons, it could wait for the court verdict or amend the reservation rules on its own. The issue is gaining currency in the election year. It is currently a hot subject in Telangana as the Madiga community bemoans that the Mala community has grabbed the lion’s share of opportunities.