Reimagining social justice
The EWS ruling will have a significant effect on how welfare and politics evolve in India
The political reverberations of the Supreme Court’s decision this week upholding reservation in public jobs and educational institutions for economically weaker sections (EWS) are still being felt. One round of responses, from national parties, has been predictable. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the verdict. This is understandable. After all, it is difficult to oppose a pro-poor move, and one that’s meant for upper caste communities that wield significant social and political power (this is why the 103rd Constitution Amendment Bill, which allowed the quota, sailed through Parliament in 2019). The other set of responses from mostly regional parties built on some variations of caste and community mobilisation has been more varied. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is the only one to clearly oppose it. Others, such as the Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal, have been circumspect in their responses, exemplified by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who welcomed the judgment but called for the 50% quota on castebased reservations to be removed and a caste census.
This is a tough political route. After all, as the majority verdict indicated, the 50% cap determined by the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment continues to be in place for caste-based quotas, as mentioned in Articles 15(4) and 15(5) and 16(4), and not for economic reservation. If breaching this ceiling is a political decision, it is almost certain to face a tough legal battle. Moreover, none of the five judges on the Constitution Bench had any problem with economic criterion determining reservation, and two even called for a timeframe to end caste-based quotas.
Mr Kumar is right in sensing that the EWS ruling is likely to further consolidate upper caste groups behind the BJP, and his response indicates an attempt to reach out to more backward groups. But Mandal parties must understand that the 1990s moment has passed and problems of stunted development, family rule, corruption and dominance of some communities cannot be brushed under the carpet of social justice. With economic anxieties rising, reservations of various kinds are sure to emerge as political levers, straying even further from the lofty social equality goals envisioned in the Constitution. But with a majority of society now eligible for some form of quotas, it will need a new imagination of social justice and welfare for parties to win support. Tweaking the Mandal model appears to have run its course.