378

THE SCHEDULED CASTES

M.B.B.S. as ag?inst the average of 62.0 per cent, and in B.E. it was 33.44
per cent as agamst the average of 59.42 per cent (Ibid: 20).
Of the total owners of village industries, 20.3 per cent w ere
Scheduled Castes and of the total artisans, their percentage was 20.25.
As regards bank loans, of the total intending borrowers, 20. 7 per
cent were Scheduled Castes, and of the total loan-receivers, their per
centage was 12.7. Of the total receivers of long-term loans, the
Scheduled Castes accounted for 7.4 per cent. In housing sector, the SC
beneficiaries were 7.65 per cent.
All this shows that members of the Scheduled Castes fail to make
use of common educational and employment facilities. This may partly
be because of reluctantance of parents to send their children to schools
due to poverty as they use them as subsidiary means of earning money;
_
partly because of the feelmg that formal education is of little use to better
their economic prospects; and partly because perhaps ther leaders are
not bothered to get them out of their miserable plight.
The Scheduled Castes are largely concentrated in rural areas and 95
per cent of them (including 35 % agricultural labourers) derive their sus
tenance from agriculture. In most villages, they continue to suffer
residential segregation. Those who have changed their traditional oc
cupation face less status disabilities. In some cases, however, they suffer
beuse of teir hereditary identity (Schchidananda, 1977: 165-66).
_
Thetr ascriptive status scores over their achieved status. The betterment
of their conditions, thus, seems to be nowhere nearer solution. Political
ly, though they have become conscious of the value of their vote for
electio, yet they have not succeeded in transforming the larger system
so that its processes could usher in effective social, economic and politi
cal equality.
Other Backward Castes/Classes
The eser:ation for the Scheduled Castes (and Scheduled Tribes) was
.
provided m the Indrnn Constitution framed after independence but the
reservation for other backward castes/classes (OBCs) was announced
by the Janata Dal government only on August 7, 1990. As many as 27
per cent seats were proposed to be reserved for 3,742 OBCs. This was
done in accordance with implementing the Manda! Commission's
report: The Commission submitted its report on December 31,1980. It
was discussed both by the Lok Sabha and the Raj ya Sabha in 1982 and
thereafter the matter was referred to a Committee of Secretaries for ex-

THE SCHEDULED CASTES

379

amination. The matter was repeatedly taken up in both the houses of par
liament but no action was taken. The sudden announcement of accepting
its recommendations has been described as a political decision of the
then Prime Minister V.P. Singh, taken without an in-depth study of the
various issues arising out of its implementation and also without verify
ing the correctness and velocity of the selection of castes and the in
dicators.
What were the criteria used by the Manda I Commission for identify
ing a specific caste/class as 'backward'? The commission used three in
dicators: social, educational, and economic (V. Gauri Shankar, The Hin
dustan Times, October 24, 1990). In the social indicators, there were
four criteria, in the educational indicators there were three criteria, and
in the economic indicators there were four criteria. Thus, in all there
were eleven indicators. The weightage that was given to each indicator
was arbitrary and illogical. The social indicators were given a weightage
of three points, the educational indicators two points, and the economic
indicators were accorded one point. Thus, the total value was twenty
two points. Castes which secured the score of 50 per cent, that is, eleven
points or above, were listed as 'backward'.
The government's decision to implement the Manda! Commis
sion's report on reservations for the backward castes provoked
widespread resentment among students. Spontaneous agitations erupted
all over the country. Most families endure hardship and sacrifice to edu
cate their children. The prospects of gainful employment already remain
bleak because of the vast unemployment in our country. Most students
are haunted by the nightmare of unemployment or underemployment. In
such a situation, the government 'electoral' decision to reserve jobs on
the basis of caste for an additional 27.0 per cent to the existing quota of
reservation of 22.5 per cent for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes was bound to create frustrations among the youth.
Earlier, the Minorities Commission headed by justice M.S. Beg in
its report had cautioned against granting of recognition to backward
classes as recommended by the Mandal Commission. When the Janata
Dal government announced its decision to implement the Manda!
Report, no political party openly opposed it. The parties adopted an am
biguous stance, though major political parties gave implict or overt'Sup
port to the report with the stipulation that it should be based on economic
need rather than on caste. It was only the National Front government