Reservation Has Acted As A Form Of Social Engineering To Address Centuries Of Oppression And Discrimination

Summary

• "Affirmative action is not an exception to equality of treatment, but a method of ensuring equality, by enabling all individuals to perform according to their potentials" Justice s. Ravindra Bhat

• Recently Justice S. Ravindra Bhat delivered lecture at Annual Havanur Endowment Memorial Lecture organized by Karnataka State Law University in the memory of freedom fighter L. G. Havanur.

• In his lecture he discussed the unique form of equality adopted by the Constitution framers, certainly to alleviate long years of suffering on account of caste discrimination, and to redistribute the benets that privileged elites had monopolized, to a larger segment of the population, turning the caste system on its head.

Affirmative actions and Right to Equality

• During this lecture he spoke about his observation between affirmative actions and right to equality. He made observation that the pursuit of an "anti-discrimination" constitutional ethic, is more rigorous than the pursuit of a standalone "right to equality".

Two Facets of Equality

• "There are, in effect, two integral facets of equality: one, the right of all people to the benefits of the society; in that sense, the positive right to equality of opportunity. The second is the positive right to equal treatment or anti-discrimination." He added.

Caste Discrimination

• While pointing out the treatment given to the people of Dalit community Justice Bhat said, "In rural India, despite the breakdown of the traditional subsistence economy, caste continues to exert its strong presence in many different dimensions. Untouchability is not only present all-over rural India, but it has survived by adapting to new socioeconomic realities and taking on new and insidious forms".

Remedy for Discrimination

• While elaborating that there is need to find more ways to ensure equality rather than just affirmative actions Justice Bhat said, "Affirmative action in India, due to the specific forms it takes, cannot be a complete remedy for discrimination, if not for any other reason than the fact that they apply only to the public sector, whereas there is some evidence of widespread discrimination in the private sector, which is becoming increasingly important in our economic and social structures today. In order to increase its efficacy, affirmative action policies should be less mechanical: provision of quotas should be seen as the beginning, not the end, as is the current practice. There needs to be a more holistic focus on outcomes. Out of the box measures targeted towards Dalits and Adivasis must be considered, which go beyond the scope of the current reservations system - free, compulsory and good quality primary education that these communities are actually able to access, vigorous expansion of employment opportunities that go beyond traditional caste occupations, land reforms wherever feasible, and subsidies/support for self- employment."

Contribution of Sh. L G Havanur

• About the contribution of the freedom fighter Sh. LG Havanur who participated in the Quit India movement, Justice Bhat said,

• "The landmark contribution of his career came in 1972 when he was appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1952 as the Chairman, Karnataka Backward Classes Commission. He served in that capacity up to 1975 and presented the Havanur Report on the socially marginalised people on 19th November 1975."

• Further he added, "Havanur's report on the backward classes, published in 1975, and its implementation was truly a decisive movement in the social transformation of Karnataka's socioeconomic structure. Havanur was one of the early thinkers who expressed that the Indian Constitution does not express itself against caste. His vast knowledge of the Indian Constitution and his indepth study of the Backward Classes and Tribes compelled the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights, Washington and the African National Congress to invite him for preparing a Constitution for New South Africa in 1991."

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