Reservation for upper castes; their silence & confusion of dalits
Reservation is not a low hanging fruit for the exploited in this country. It has a history of centuries of fighting for this, and the sacrifice people like Ambedkar had to make for this to materialize. Now even with reservation, the dalits and other lower castes are still in miserable state in India, one can only imagine what would have been their fate if reservation had not been provided.
Even when the country became free, the power would have merely remained in the hands of upper castes. Reservation was made part of the constitution owing to foresightedness and sense of social justice of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar and Shahu Maharaj, and constant fight staged by the lower castes.
Ironically, the 10% reservation that has been incorporated into legal framework of the country, to the upper caste does not have any background as such. No government has come forward to give a true picture of upper caste or Brahmin youths and the state of penury they have been living in, like the Sachar report spoke about the miserable condition that Muslims are living in this country.
In the recent past, even Mayawati had offered reservation to upper caste Brahmins and she was joined by many Congress senior leaders as well. But these promises did not have any other reason. No government has the guts to show the true story of poverty faced by the people of the country. Her assurance to upper caste youths is nothing more than a political farce played against them.
In the recent past, many people were denied food grains because they didn’t have Aadhar card. This had created a situation of the poor being forced to die of starvation in the country. Not a single dead person among these, belonged to upper caste. All those who died belong to lower castes. When one considers the data of malnutrition, it reveals that lower caste, shudra, muslims and others are in majority.
Though it has been more than 50 years, the people from this communities are not able to make a headway into education sector. For that matter, other castes have not been able to tread even half the distance traded by people from other castes did in job sector.
All those people who have been represented in the union cabinet are from upper caste. They have strong political presence. So when the government proposes to offer 10% reservation to the upper caste, what would be the basis and what is the need for a hurried passing of the bill? This must be the only bill in the history of this country that was passed without even much deliberation in both houses in four days and even reached the President’s table for his concurrence.
The whole purpose of this 10% reservation bill is to turn the aim of reservation offered by Ambedkar, upside down. With this bill, the government has created an impression in people’s mind that reservation is for economic upliftment. This 10% may not help the upper caste much, but will deal a massive blow to other marginalized communities which would move into regression mode.
As per a report submitted by Centre for Monitoring Economy, the job market in India is very discouraging. The rate of unemployment by December 2018 was at 7.4% which is the highest in the last 15 months. Secondly, about 1.1 crore people who have lost jobs in 2017-18 have been added to this number. Rural distress with agrarian crisis is the worse, with people losing about 82% jobs and most of this brunt is borne by women.
According to another report brought out by ILO or International Labour Organisation, about 80% of the jobs in India are considered to be tentative with no job security. Only 20% of the employees are on regular payrolls and another 40% are earing way lesser than the norm. Recruitment for vacancies within the government are at snail’s pace. More than one third of the backlogs that lie vacant belong to reserved category. Most of the unorganized and informal sector that created many jobs are worst hit by GST and demonetization and are yet to emerge from the shock.
At a time like this, the government threw caution to wind where the Supreme Court had clearly said the overall reservation should not cross 50%. The government has announced this 10% reservation with the hope of finding more allies for elections and increase its voteshare. This may also help the government find some lost ground in 5 hindi belt states, back.
This economic reservation must be the biggest of all jumlas that is harmful to the maximum extent too to the country. People from lower castes and economic background, should raise their voice against this. Not just the economically poor, but the socially marginalized communities must come together to oppose this. Irony is all those organisations that would dissent against such proposals have maintained strategic silence. The exploited community is confused about the next move since representing leaders like Mayawati and Paswan are in support of this. Their move seems more dangerous at the moment, than Modi’s strategies are to the country.
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India, Russia unveil new measures to broaden trade, economic ties between countries
PM Modi bats for bringing peace to Ukraine
New Delhi (PTI): India and Russia on Friday firmed up a five-year plan to bolster economic and trade partnership in the face of Washington's punitive tariff and sanctions regime even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to President Vladimir Putin that the war in Ukraine must be brought to an end through dialogue.
Following their summit talks, Modi and Putin unitedly demonstrated their keenness to impart a fresh momentum to the trajectory of the over eight-decades-old partnership between the two nations.
Besides finalising the 2030 economic programme, the two sides signed several agreements to expand cooperation in a number of sectors including health, mobility and people-to-people exchange.
"Over the past eight decades, the world has witnessed numerous ups and downs. Humanity has had to pass through many challenges and crises. And amidst all this, the India-Russia friendship has remained steadfast like a pole star," Modi said in his media statement.
ALSO READ: India not neutral, it is on the side of peace: PM Modi to Putin on Ukraine conflict
The prime minister, referring to the economic roadmap, said taking the India-Russia economic partnership to new heights is now a common priority for both sides. Modi also said that India and Russia are working towards early conclusion of a free trade agreement with Eurasian Economic Union.
The Ukraine conflict also figured prominently in the talks with Modi saying that India has advocated for peace in that country.
"We welcome all efforts being made for a peaceful and lasting resolution of this matter. India has always been ready to contribute its part and will remain so in the future," he said.
On threat of terrorism, Modi said India and Russia have long been standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight against the menace.
"Whether it is the terrorist attack in Pahalgam or the cowardly assault on the Crocus City Hall - the root of all these incidents is the same," he said.
"India's unwavering belief is that terrorism is a direct assault on the values of humanity and that global unity against it is our greatest strength," he added.
Modi said India-Russia cooperation in the critical minerals sector is crucial for ensuring secure and diversified supply chains across the entire world.
ALSO READ: Russian President Putin says India, Russia collaboration not directed against anyone
In his remarks, Putin said the two sides resolved to prioritise cooperation in areas of security, economy, trade and culture.
We are looking at increasing annual bilateral trade volume to USD 100 billion, he said.
Putin said Russia is also looking at expanding cooperation in the energy sector with New Delhi, adding his country is ready for uninterrupted shipments of fuel to India.
We could also talk about cooperation in construction of small modular nuclear reactors and floating nuclear power plants, he said.
Russia, India and other like-minded nations are working towards a just and multipolar world.
