The vote bank politics using caste, religion and gender in India

(1) The caste and caste system have become the main tools for drawing votes in elections in India since 1950s.

By grouping almost half the population in the country as a sizeable voting bloc which comprises OBC (Other Backward castes) and SC/ST (Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes) according to the caste labels (surnames) representing certain ancestral family occupations (e.g. farmers, carpenters, smiths, shoemakers etc.), the Govt. (led by politicians) for no credible reason (Ref. 1) continues the short-sighted and biased policy of granting privileges, quotas and reservations in education and jobs in the public sector (Govt. run schools and colleges and the jobs with Govt.) to OBC and SC/ST, irrespective of their personal wealth / income which might be many times (even 30 or 40 times) above the poverty level / limit in India in the case of OBC qualifying for Govt. quotas and even without any upper limit on income in the case of SC/STs receiving Govt. quotas.

Meanwhile, people belonging to the non-OBC and non-SC/ST categories (representing almost half of the rest of population in the country) are excluded so far in the past from Govt. quotas and reservations in education and jobs in the public sector, even when they happen to be poor and living near or below the poverty line / limit.

As can be expected, people belonging to the OBC and SC/ST categories, receiving caste quotas and reservations in education and jobs from Govt. even when they have huge personal incomes, are the big supporters in elections for politicians who favor the Govt. continuing the caste based quotas etc. in education and jobs to OBC and SC/ST.

Even though knowing fully well that the use and exploitation of caste and caste system officially in anything, including in promising, issuing and continuing the casteist and unfair quotas, reservations and privileges in education and jobs on the basis of caste in the public sector, will needlessly prolong the caste system and increase the casteism, which even the quota recipients (OBC and SC/ST) complain about and want flushed out immediately (while not willing to give up the caste quotas), the politicians still go out of their way to use the caste for votes, first by promising at election time to continue the existing caste based quotas and reservations in the public sector and next by proposing to also introduce the similar quotas and reservations based on caste (to OBC and SC/ST) in the private sector.

There absolutely is no reason for anyone, especially the politicians in Govt., to propose the introduction of casteist and discriminatory quotas and reservations in education and jobs in the private sector, because doing so (allowing the caste based quotas in the private sector) will not only further strengthen and prolong the caste system in society and lead to more casteism, but it will also greatly undermine and impede efficiency, accountability, professionalism, spirit of competition and use of merit in the privately run schools and colleges and in the private companies, businesses and industries.
 
Anyway, to make the caste irrelevant in society and put an end to the caste system and casteism, while also making the Govt. seem fair, impartial and rational in helping people in education and jobs irrespective of caste, the politicians need to immediately start promising and working to get rid of the six decades old unfair, casteist and discriminatory caste quotas and reservations in education and jobs in the public sector (Govt. schools, colleges and places of employment) and instead introduce a policy to give Govt. help to people in education and jobs, if necessary, only according to the economic condition or poverty (person needing help living below or near the poverty line / limit) and not the caste.

(2) The religion, in spite of India’s secular credentials according to the Constitution, is also used as a major vote-getter in the elections. The Govt. funds and subsidies are provided to people to make annual religious pilgrimages. Moreover, the Govt. officially allows people in various communities to follow their own archaic and biased (gender specific) religious / community laws.

Furthermore, instead of campaigning and working to get rid of the subsidies from Govt. to people to make annual pilgrimages altogether and replace the present multiple, separate, divisive, biased and archaic religious / community laws with a single, fair and progressive legal system (e.g. UCC or Uniform Civil Code: one law for everyone, irrespective of religion, race, caste and gender), the politicians continue to use religion for votes currently, by promising and granting the use of separate religious / community laws to more communities and in the name of protecting minorities introduce religiously-skewed bills and laws which will override the individual rights and freedoms with community rights.

Note the best and most effective way to empower and protect everyone equally in the country, while ensuring the individual rights of all (men, women and people belonging to the majority and minorities), is through the implementation of UCC (Uniform Civil Code: one law for everyone, irrespective of religion, race, caste and gender), which will also safeguard the religious freedom for all -- by giving people the complete freedom to pray and worship in their own way and to the deity of their own choice.

(3) Finally, the gender also helps in making election promises for the sake of votes.

Politicians want women to think that their condition will improve through Govt. quotas and reservations, but that is quite misleading.

In reality, most of the woes for women, including their not having the same legal rights as men and also lagging behind not only the men in their own community but also the women in certain other communities, are rooted in their living under the archaic and gender-specific religious / community laws which originally were sanctioned officially by the Govt. and presently continue to draw support from politicians and Govt.

Thus, rather than helping a small segment of Indian women through Govt. quotas in education and jobs, politicians should instead try to improve the condition of women all over India and in all walks of life and ensure them the same legal rights as men. To this end, politicians need to campaign and work for the immediate implementation of a gender-neutral UCC (Uniform Civil Code: one law for everyone, irrespective of religion, race, caste and gender) and get rid of the current multiple, archaic and gender-biased religious / community laws.


(1) Subhash C. Sharma, “Macaulay report refutes the caste basis for quotas,” Sept. 3, 2012,
http://creative.sulekha.com/macaulay-report-refutes-the-caste-basis-for-quotas_591797_blog

by: Dr. Subhash C. Sharma
(Feb. 22, 2014)

http://creative.sulekha.com/the-vote-bank-politics-using-caste-religion-and-gender-in-india_614683_blog

Seva,

I agree with what you say.

But the SUCH community is comprised of two kinds.

1. OBCs like Ponniyin Selvan want this system of postively discriminating the forward caste to continue. The poor and the lower middle class folks belonging to the forward castes are the worst affected. In fact, he thinks there are no poor among the Brahmins.

2. Forward caste guys like Carvaka want to project themselves as liberals. They just close their eyes to the plight of poor families belonging to forward castes. They support the continuation of this pernicious system.

All your messages about how bad this quota system is not going to change anyone's mind here.

Rishi/ seva
Let me ask you few questions?
What is the population of brahmins in tn, Hp and India?
What percentage of them are poor? Explain your criteria for poor?
Then just give me the % of sc/st/ tribals in the same areas?
Then give the percentage of poor among sc/ st/tribals?

If you were Nehru, the liberal brahmin you dislike so much, looks at these numbers and looks at the really really small Indian budget, where would you put your rupee for most beneficial improvement?

There is another side to this story with Nehru the smart politician looking at voting numbers. A democracy is designed to force the policies for the benefit of the majority.

truthbetold wrote:Rishi/ seva
Let me ask you few questions?
What is the population of brahmins in tn, Hp and India?
What percentage of them are poor? Explain your criteria for poor?
Then just give me the % of sc/st/ tribals in the same areas?
Then give the percentage of poor among sc/ st/tribals?

If you were Nehru, the liberal brahmin you dislike so much,  looks at these numbers and looks at the really really small Indian budget,  where would you put your rupee for most beneficial improvement?

There is another side to this story with Nehru the smart politician looking at voting numbers. A democracy is designed to force the policies for the benefit of the majority.

TBT,

IMO the right thing to do is to set aside 10% for forward castes who are economically disadvantaged. However they should be asked to furnish proof of their low incomes.

Summary

FC with low income 10%

BC/OBC/SC/ST with no limits on income 80%

Open competition 10%

Does seva support 10% set aside for forward caste poor?

truthbetold wrote:Does seva support 10% set aside for forward caste poor?

Rishi and TBT,

Thanks for the comments.

I do not support anything set aside by Govt. to anyone in the name of caste, as I indicated above,

"...  to make the caste irrelevant in society and put an end to the caste system and casteism, while also making the Govt. seem fair, impartial and rational in helping people in education and jobs irrespective of caste, the politicians need to immediately start promising and working to get rid of the six decades old unfair, casteist and discriminatory caste quotas and reservations in education and jobs in the public sector (Govt. schools, colleges and places of employment) and instead introduce a policy to give Govt. help to people in education and jobs, if necessary, only according to the economic condition or poverty (person needing help living below or near the poverty line / limit) and not the caste."

Seva

appreciate your response. 

I am repeating this question:

Why do you think that a govt should help people in education and jobs according to economic condition? 

I am still waiting for an answer.

truthbetold wrote:Seva

appreciate your response. 

I am repeating this question:

Why do you think that a govt should help people in education and jobs according to economic condition? 

I am still waiting for an answer.

Helping people in education and jobs according to their current economic condition or poverty (their living now below or near the poverty limit / line) by using the Govt. resources, money and quotas is much more sensible than according to their ancestral occupations (signified by their surnames and caste tags).