Why we must not do away with reservations for Dalits

If we don’t bring them up with some privileges so that they reach the same level as the rest of us, it would be unfair

Even as we observe Dalit History Month , a poignant story from Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s life comes to my mind. When he was nine, his father, who worked in Goregaon, asked him to come visit him during the summer holidays. Together with his elder brother and another relative, Ambedkar boarded a train from Satara. The boys had gotten new English-style shirts tailored, wore silk-bordered dhotis and shiny new caps. This was their first rail journey and they were thrilled. When they reached their destination, though, no one had arrived to receive them. His father had not received the letter with their date of arrival.

The station-master, who had mistaken them to be boys of an upper caste initially, due to their new clothes, perhaps, turned them out of the waiting room after learning that they were of a lower caste. They tried to hire a bullock cart, but no one agreed to take them along. Finally, one of the bullock cart owners agreed to give them a ride, but he refused to sit in the cart and chose to walk beside it instead. It was a long ride, and no one would give them water on the way. They reached Goregaon the next morning, and the experiences during this journey left Ambedkar totally jolted. This happened in 1901. Today, more than a century later, the same reality continues in rural India. Perhaps not to the same extent, but this idea that another human being’s touch could pollute you, exists even today. Despite this appalling situation, we often hear about the need to do away with reservations.

This community, for millennia, has been discriminated against. If we don’t bring them up with some privileges so that they reach the same level as the rest of us some day, it would be unfair. Considering the level of development that the Dalits in this country are at today, I strongly feel that they still need reservation. But perhaps this is a good time to review our reservation policy.

A distinction could be made between urban Dalits and rural Dalits, because the maximum discrimination and disadvantage happens in rural India. Rural Dalits must be given far more advantage than those who are already living in urban societies. While reservation to get into a college might still be necessary, you shouldn’t pass a student because he belongs to a certain caste. Similarly, for jobs, reservations can help them enter a job, but promotions must come only with competence.

Finally, we should stop looking at people as this community, that caste, this religion because all of us in India have only one vote. This equality has to manifest itself socially. Essentially, that was Ambedkar’s vision for the nation, and for the world. A nation that invests in prejudice cannot be a successful democracy.