Gujjars Vs Meenas in Rajasthan

As we rush to the press, the end of Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan is not in sight. The community has, of late, been restive for inclusion in the list of the Scheduled Tribes. Their agitation had fizzled out last year. To their utter dismay they found out that violence is necessary to get attention.

During the last three weeks, the irate Gujjars uprooted railway lines and blocked national highways. In the process, army had been called in and the agitators lost around 50 able-bodied personnel. The preliminary estimated loss of property is in the vicinity of Rs 50 crore. Till June 9 more than 750 trains, including 500 mail or express ones, had been cancelled. Around 200 had to be diverted and more than 150 were short-terminated.

Behind the death and destruction is said to be Bhartiya Janata Party’s caste politics, Saffron’s insensitivity to human suffering and “strategic thinking” focused only on electoral gains – whatever the cost in moral terms.

The Vasundhara administration had asked the Centre to amend the Constitution to provide reservation for the Gujjars outside the existing three categories: The Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and other Backward Clastes (OBCs). The too-obvious reply of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs was: in exceptional cases the states were empowered by the Constitution to make separate provisions for reservation. To quote the Minister, Mr. P.R. Kyndiah: Since Constitutional provisions already exist, which empower the states to make special provisions for categories other than SCs, STs and OBCs, no amendment to the Constitution for this purpose is necessary or feasible. “A Constitutional Amendment, he added, will “upset the delicate Constitution at balance, well settled by a Supreme Court decision on the subject of reservation.”

The Centre’s position was that provisions of Article 16, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, enabled States to make provisions for reservation to nomadic and denotified tribes other than SCs, STs and OBCs if the situation demanded.

Maharashtra has already benefited from this window of opportunity. In state institutions, the deserving in the state can benefit from it. This facility, however, does not apply to the central institutions.

The entire discredit for the present problem goes to the Saffron Party. Ms Vasundhara Raje made a public promise at Karoli during the State Assembly Elections in 2003 that if succeeded she would include the Gujjars in the ST list.

In a 1000-word write-up Ms Neena Vyas (The Hindu, May 31) aptly analyses the deception floated from time to time by the BJP. She says: Nobody, not even the Bharatiya Janata Party, is able to explain how this could help the Gujjars. After all, they are already under the other Backward Classes, which get 27 per cent reservation in all government jobs as against the STs, who are nationally entitled to 7.5 per cent reservation with some variations at the State level. For, the population in each category varies in each State.

Take the figures for quota positions filled in Central government services as on January 1, 2005. While the SC and ST quotas were not completely filled, they were well above the half-way-mark. As for the 27 per cent OBC quota, on average only 4-5 per cent of the slot was filled. This means there is a very large unused OBC quota, which the Gujjars could use to their advantage as they are already in this category. So asks Ms Neena: how could their demanding a share in the smaller 7.5 per cent quota that has mostly been filled serve their purpose?

The figures, it goes without saying, collected by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions are revealing. As on January 1, 2005, the STs filled 4.3 per cent out of a 7.5 per cent quota of jobs in the ‘A’ category that includes civil service officers and superintendents of police. The OBCs managed only 4.7 per cent of the 27 per cent quota, clearly establishing that there were many more vacancies here if suitable candidates presented themselves.

It is a similar story even in categories ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’. Only in the last two categories have the OBCs managed to cross even the 5 per cent mark, that is more than four-fifths of this quota remain unfilled. In category ‘B’, their position dips to 2.3 per cent quota filled, that is less than one-twelfth.

The history of this dispute goes back to 1998-99 when the BJP wanted to attract the Jats to its fold. At that time, it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself who promised OBC status to Jats. The National Democratic Alliance government, which began its tenure in 1999, gave the dominant Jat Community OBC status.

Again in 2003, the BJP used a similar trick to woo the Gujjars. Its Hindutva ideology, points out Ms Vyas, may be against caste politics, but on the ground the party has made a fine art of practicing caste politics, while accusing Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav of doing this in Uttar Pradesh.

The Political stakes were high as the Assembly elections in Rajasthan were being held just ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. This time the Gujjars, who found that the OBC category was crowded by the dominating Jats and that their share shrank as those entitled to the quota had increased numerically, were told that the problem would be remedied by giving them ST status.

With the full approval of the BJP central leadership Ms Raje, projected as Chief Minister, made the rash promise at campaign meetings in 2003. The party won with a thumping majority, breaking all previous records. Before this Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had been able to get to the chief ministerial chair only with the help of independents.

Now note it, anxious to pass the blame for the mess to the Centre, the BJP leadership says the promise to Gujjars was never included in the party manifesto. The party has also tried to pass off a letter written by Ms. Raje to the Union Home Minister as sufficient ground for the Centre to “take action” to begin the process of creating a third category of reservation for some nomadic communities and Gujjars, giving them “four to six per cent” quota in jobs.

The BJP knows full well the suggestion in letter cannot be implemented as it would take the overall reservation quota beyond 50 per cent, the limit clearly set by the Supreme Court. But Arun Jaitley, former Law Minister, was not prepared to admit that.

Asked what he would have done had he been Law Minister now, he simply said that as BJP general secretary he was not dealing with Rajasthan. But party sources disclosed that his views were that the BJP could still make the best of bad situation. The party should dump the Gujjars and consolidate the support of all others. It could be made a Gujjar versus all fight.

Our view is a healthy ambience has to be created free from caste prejudices and biases. That would make reservations irrelevant. Otherwise newer and newer claimants would continue to make talent, efficiency and competence redundant. In this regard long term interests of the nation should be kept in mind and petty politics should not be allowed to spoil the future of our country and our people.