Even as the details of the bill providing for 10 percent reservation for economically backward upper castes in government jobs and education are yet to be revealed, experts are divided on it.
In a BloombergQuint panel discussion, Dalit ideologue Chandra Bhan Prasad raised question on the rationale of the move. “Ambedkar studied the exploitation of Dalits for 30 years and then reservation was given. Are upper caste poor facing that stigma?” he asked.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar however said that this was inevitable as the reservation judgement meant that the General category was virtually getting eased out of employment.
The question of viability of the decision also had differing views. Datar said that there are chances that the Bill will get passed unanimously in the Parliament as no party would want to alienate the upper castes. He also felt the decision will not face any legal disputes. “The amendment can definitely be challenged but the ground is very limited to show that it violates the basic structure of Constitution,” Datar said.
On the other hand, senior advocate KTS Tulsi said, “The government knows when Andhra Pradesh attempted such reservation for Muslims, or Rajasthan for Jats, it was struck down. So, this is just a jumla.”
Political commentator Amitabh Tiwari termed the decision as a “smart move” by the BJP. “It is a smart move because no party can oppose this. It is neither anti-reservation nor anti-SC-ST or anti-OBC. This is a win-win situation for the BJP.”
“The party lost poorly in SC-ST reserved seats in the recent Assembly elections and so it wants to fall back on its core vote base of upper caste,” he added.
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