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From: Siddhartha Kumar <mailsiddhartha.
To: zestcaste <zestcaste@yahoogrou
Sent: Sat, 3 July, 2010 5:20:33 PM
Subject: [ZESTCaste] Caste count hits sub-quota hurdle
http://timesofindia
Caste count hits sub-quota hurdle
TNN, Jul 3, 2010, 03.57am IST
NEW DELHI: The proposal to include caste in the ongoing census seems
to have hit a serious hurdle with concern being expressed that the
exercise may not only set off jostling for quotas among sub-castes but
may not be effective in changing the overall constitutional ceiling on
reservation.
As the government gets down to considering the cost-benefit of a caste
enumeration, fuller implications of conceding the demand led by
powerful OBC lobbies are being considered. The political agendas at
work may not only be contentious, but prove to be unworkable as well.
One of unsaid arguments behind the census demand is that a truer count
of backward castes would establish claims for a greater share of the
reservation pie. This means that caste enumeration may lead to
political demands that the current Supreme Court-mandated 50% cap on
quotas be breached in the future.
Well-placed sources said the argument was flawed as even if the
popular claim of OBCs accounting for 52% of the population -- though
some surveys peg it at less -- was actually exceeded, it may not
translate into an expanded quota. This was because the SC ruling was
now part of the basic structure of the Constitution and not open to
being amended by Parliament.
The group of ministers (GoM) on enumerating caste on Thursday saw the
point being made that caste numbers were not going lead to backward
empowerment in the manner in which some votaries of the proposal felt
it would. What would be the purpose of a caste count if the quota
aspirations were going to prove to be non-starters, it was pointed
out.
A cautionary note was also held out on the sub-caste counts that would
be a result of changing the census process. The sub-categorisation of
backward and other castes could see demands for proportional
representation. This would mean competing claims for entitlements on
the basis of quotas within quotas, something the government may not be
comfortable with.
It is understood that none of the ministers who expressed their views
were unequivocal in supporting a caste census though law minister M
Veerappa Moily, a strong votary of the proposal, attended the GoM
meeting briefly. Even ministers who spoke in favour of the move
pointed to the political commitment of the government rather than the
merits of the case.
Home minister P Chidambaram spoke of his reservations about a caste
census but said he would go along with the GoM's consensus. Defence
minister A K Antony, often seen to reflect the Congress brass'
thinking, made it clear he was offering his personal view that a caste
census was not a good idea.
Corporate affairs and minority affairs minister Salman Khurshed argued
the government will have to go ahead with a caste count as it was
important in terms of numbers in Parliament. He could have been
alluding to the support extended to Congress by OBC-centric parties
like Samajwadi Party and RJD. But the assessment in government seems
to be that the caste census was not likely to be settled in a hurry.
The decision to seek responses from political parties is a sure
indicator of this as apart from Mandal-oriented parties, others are
likely to ask Congress to spell out its stand first. The caste count
demand is sure to gain momentum during the monsoon session, but with
the first round of the census over, government has time till December.
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