Affirmative Actions in Haryana: A Perspective

By

Randeep Wadehra

Although more than six decades have passed since reservations were given constitutional sanctity there are a plethora of misconceptions – genuine as well as simulated – regarding their nature and purpose, thus leading to clamour for inclusion in the “reserved categories” by even such communities as are economically and socially better placed than the genuinely vulnerable sections of the society. It goes without saying that a reservation should not only be sustainable on the constitutional anvil but also be reasonable to be permissible. In assessing the reasonability one of the factors to be taken into consideration would be whether the character and quantum of reservation would stall or accelerate the achieving the ultimate goal of excellence that would facilitate national progress and prosperity.

We have seen, however, that reservations have not succeeded in really improving the lot of the targeted communities – no essential for India’s overall development and prosperity. These have become instrumental in giving birth to, and perpetuating, creamy layers among these communities. These creamy layers have distanced themselves from the masses from their respective communities and more or less aligned themselves with the upper caste elites in their quest for political power. This is much true of Haryana as of any other state of India.

When Haryana came into being it faced several challenges on social and economic developmental fronts. Both agriculture and industry were in bad shape – there was no infrastructure worth the name. Unemployment and poverty coupled with poor healthcare system only added to the sorry state of affairs. Haryana had to build up its education system virtually from the scratch. The point is, since the entire state was in need of rejuvenation it became all the more challenging to look after the interests of the poorest among the poor – the most vulnerable sections of the society, viz., the communities belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, women and the physically challenged. Nevertheless, the constitutional provisions relating to reservations for SCs and STs, and also the OBCs, were implemented, or at least relevant state instruments were deployed to do the needful.

Today, Haryana is in a much happier position – economically speaking. It is a significant contributor to the national growth. However, its social indicators relating to education, healthcare, women’s status and the condition of other vulnerable sections leave much to be done. Going beyond the traditional reservation formulae attempts have been made to devise and actuate various affirmative actions, which would lead to the emancipation of various targeted groups. Not that these affirmative actions have become unqualified successes but they are proving to be useful by and large, as can be surmised from the following paragraphs.

Since the quality of human resource is vital to the development of a state it is important to have quality educational institutions right from the primary school to the higher education levels. Equally important is to ensure that the deserving among the poor get a fair chance to avail of quality education. Apart from the usual reservation quotas the Haryana Government has also earmarked a sum of Rs. 100 lakh – spread over entire eleventh Five Year Plan 2007-12 –  towards personality development of SC/ST students through such programs as educational tours etc. Then there is “Earn While You Learn Scheme” for the students of various government colleges in the state.

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