Social Justice and the Politics of Reservation in India: The Post-Mandal Phase

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This book makes an objective analysis of the growth of caste consciousness and its gradual permeation into politics making it an inevitable factor to reckon with. Judiciary's intervention through various stages is also observed. A major revelation or finding is regarding the limitation of the judiciary since it lacks the required machinery for conducting an independent investigation or verification of statements or affidavits, data furnished by various state governments and Central Government. The study throws light in the palpable change of attitude to reservation policy pursued by various political parties in the wake of the announcement of the implementation of Mandal Commission Report. Attempts made by political parties to circumvent the Supreme Court verdict to exclude creamy layer from the ambit of reservation makes a useful reading. A scintillating analysis and a well studied solution is suggested in the conclusion of the book. This book makes an interesting and essential reading for all.

SANTHOSH KUMAR V. (b. 1966) took his M.A. in Political Science from the University of Kerala and later Ph.D from Mahatma Gandhi University. At present he is employed in the administrative wing of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. He is at present engaged in authoring a biography of the late V.P. Menon, former Reforms Commissioner, Secretary, Ministry of States.

Even since the government at the Centre headed by V.P. Singh took the decision to implement the Mandal Commission Report, the nature of Indian politics has changed significantly. Unlike the Kaka Kalelkar Report, the Mandal Report was accepted in principle by all the political parties without a debate. Not only that, the political parties made changes in their manifestoes to profit from the mobilization of the backward classes. A number of dormant caste-based parties shot into prominence and became forces to be reckoned with, as the growth of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh was to prove. The failure of political parties to discuss the Mandal Commission Report and the reluctance of the successive governments to intervene in this matter increasingly brought it to the purview of judiciary. The judiciary, through interpretation and activism, has taken up the issue to force the reluctant executive to come up with measures aimed at rationalizing the reservation policy. This analysis seeks to bring out the politics surrounding the reservation policy in the post-Mandal phase.

The reservation policy has led to mobilization of the backward classes particularly in the north on an unprecedented scale. It has also changed the very shape of politics by bringing caste to the centre of political polarisaiton and mobilization. No study of politics in India will be complete without looking at the reservation issue in a dynamic way. Although several studies relating to the caste system and its interface with politics exist, there have been few studies relating specifically to the politics of reservation policy. The manifestoes of political parties, campaign strategies, symbolism and content of electioneering reflect and even more keen sense of caste sensibility following the Mandal issue.

The book is organized into eight chapters. The first chapter introduces the topic, provides a brief conceptual overview, reviews the literature, and lays done the objectives and methodology of the study. The second chapter provides a brief account of the caste system and how it entered politics through a series of backward class movements. It also assesses the potential of castes to organize people and make demands on the political system. The third chapter traces the evolution of reservation policy and considers how it got formulated both in the center and states drawing on the reports of various Commissions. The fourth chapter crystallizes the arguments of proponents and opponents of reservation. The fifth chapter examines how the Judiciary has been drawn into the process of moderating and correcting state action relating to reservations through interpretations and decisions.

The sixth chapter deals with the politics of reservation policy. It deals how political parties have increasingly used the reservation issue to their advantage. This is followed by a chapter on the 'creamy layer' issue and how it resulted in backward class mobilization particularly in the state of Kerala. The eighth and concluding chapter summarises the main points of the study and suggests a number of steps to streamline the reservation policy.

The book Social Justice and the Politics of Reservation in India authored by Dr. Santhosh Kumar V. grew out of a Ph.D thesis submitted to Mahatma Gandhi University in late 2002 under my guidance. The book focuses on the post-Mandal phase beginning from the late eighties when the political landscape of North India witnessed a sea change, with the dominant parties loosing their grip and the emergence of new parties that sought.to capitalize on the divisive forces generated by the implementation of the recommendations of the Mandal report. Many commentators see this development in a positive light, seeing it as an indication that social realities will be better represented in the political arena.

However critics allege that reservation on the basis of backwardness can generate forces that will lead to sectarianism and unending quest for inclusion in the list of reserved categories as has been proven by the intransigence of the Gujjars of north India, especially Rajasthan, who were promised ST status during election time. Such events show that there are limits to the politics of reservation. New discourses on social inclusion and justice have emerged in recent years and they continue to inform electora! politics and public policies to a significant extent. That the discourse, which was confined to the backward castes, has now taken a new turn with inclusion of minorities, though under a different label, shows how such strategies have come to assume a certain degree of permanence in the social and political ethos of modem India.

This book covers considerable ground. It has defined the operational concepts, traced the evolution of reservation policy in India and its regional roots, discussed the pros and cons of reservation and the opinion of the judiciary in the matter, and brought out the politics surrounding the reservation issue. Besides, it has also looked at the vexed question of identifying persons belonging to the creamy layer. The book has brought out the different facets of the politics of backwardness in a historical perspective. Although the focus is more on South India, more particularly Kerala, the book has also covered other parts of the country in some detail. The interviews that the author had with a number of political and social leaders also have enriched the content of the book considerably. The author has carried out a painstaking study as is clear from the references and illustrative notes. I am sure that students and researchers of contemporary Indian politics and sociology will find in the book very useful material that they can use in their study and research. I congratulate Santhosh Kumar for this important work and hope that the book will be well received by the academic community and the general readers.

**Contents and Sample Pages**