Fredrick Nornoha writes: "Luis, Assuming what you're saying is true, do you have any better suggestions of how to get rid of a five thousand year old legacy of discrimination and unequal opportunity? FN"
I read Luis Mesquita's message as saying that due to the government policies, the caste consciousness is enhanced, and would defeat the very objective that Fred has rightly stated, namely to get rid of the legacy. I have read some articles which claim that in an urban areas, the caste consciousness is reducing. The important point of the reservation system is to give benefits to those who have not had opportunities for various reasons. On this ground, there cannot be any two opinions. At the same time, I feel that the reservation system is today being used by what are called creamy layers, since there is no criteria to target these benefits to the ones who really deserve it. This also creates disenchantment amongst the poor in the non-reserved communities, who see that a rich person in the reserved communities getting all the benefits. So, to answer Fred's poser, the first thing that needs to be done is to put an income criteria in the reservation system, in addition to the caste criteria. In the introduction to the book "Plain Speaking: A Sudra's Story" (edited by Uttara Natarajan, Permanent Black, 2007) I read the following: "Perhaps Sattanathan's greatest contribution to national life was his Report, submitted in November 1970, of the findings and recommendations of the first Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission. The Commission was appointed by the DMK Government under M Karunanidhi in 1969, with Sattanathan as Chairman. If Tamil Nadu has been a pioneering example in the history of reservation in India, then Sattanathan has played a leading role in that history. Among other recommendations, his Report prescribes an income limit for reservation: the implementation of this recommendation and, on its heels, the volte face in which the economic criterion was withdrawn, has had a significant impact on the shape of the Tamil Nadu politics. Sattanathan's phraseology in arguing for the removal of the 'upper layer' or 'upper crust' of the backward classes .. anticipates the current catchphrase, 'creamy layer', which has come into use since the Supreme Court's ruling of 1992 on means testing for reservation." I believe the author is the grand-daughter of Sattanathan. If the recommendations on the 'upper layer' had been accepted, many of the problems in the system as it exists today would not be there. Best regards, Dr. U. G. Barad
