While it is undeniable that centuries of caste system had created economic, social and educational divide in India but for the Indian politicians, caste-based reservation is a way of garnering popular vote. The consternation of the political parties could be understood when the Supreme Court of India passed a judgment allowing the 27% reservation in higher educational institutions for the Other Backward Castes but excluded the creamy layer among them.

The Indian politicians other than those belonging to the Communist parties did not want the creamy layer to be left out of the OBC reservation quota. The leaders of nearly every political party were contemplating increasing the income threshold to determine the creamy layer from the current level of family income of above Rs2.5 lacs per annum to above Rs5 lacs per annum to include more people into the OBC reservation fold. However, to the disappointment of the backward-caste leaders of India, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, a staunch supporter of including the creamy layer among the backward caste into the quota purview had recently climbed down from his earlier stand by asking the Central government to implement the 27% quota based on the Supreme Court verdict. According to the veteran leader, he would like to have a shirt and shawl but if he did not have the shawl, he would have to remain satisfied with wearing a shirt, a reference to his party’s decision to put-off the fight on the creamy layer issue.

With the parliamentary elections around the corner, politicians are trying their best to implement the OBC quota, even if that means amending the law to circumvent the Supreme Court judgment. It is unfortunate that in a country where the Dalits are suffering largely in the hands of the landed class who in many cases are the powerful people belonging to the OBC category, instead of removing social discrimination Indian politicians have created a vested backward class vote bank that will further aggravate social divide in the country.

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Source: Times of India