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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Supreme Court mandates 3% reservation for disabled in government jobs

Supreme Court mandates 3% reservation for disabled in government jobs

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published Published on Oct 10, 2013   modified Modified on Oct 10, 2013
-The Times of India


Put 50% cap on all reservations

Affirmative action can work only in limited doses. It should not be used as a sledgehammer that rules out all other criteria of job selection. The 50% cap on reservations mandated by the Supreme Court earlier should be the absolute upper limit for all categories of reservations. Any relaxation of this upper limit would further dilute meritocracy in public services, impede good governance and pave the way for the ghettoisation of society. One shouldn't cavil at the Supreme Court's well-meaning direction to implement a 3% quota for differently-abled people in all government jobs. Providing equal opportunities to those with disabilities is an important goal. But what's disturbing is that with this judgment, the Supreme Court appears to have initiated a fresh vista of 'horizontal' reservations, in addition to 'vertical' types of reservation such as caste on which the 50% quota is held to be exclusively applicable.

This opens up dizzying possibilities as there can be many other categories of 'horizontal' reservation, all equally well-intentioned in their own right - such as a job quota for the economi-cally disadvantaged, or the kin of defence personnel and so on. This would lead to the undesirable situation where someone who doesn't fit into a special category is barely eligible for a job - opening the door to all kinds of misuse and manipulation of the system.

Second, how would the new system treat a differently-abled candidate who is also eligible for reservation under SC, ST or OBC quota? Would one have sub-categories within each category, and then further sub-categories within those, immensely complicating the system and rendering it almost beyond comprehension? At the end of the day, if reservations really do bring about social upliftment, certain categories deserve to be phased out even as new categories of reservation are ushered in. But the current discourse on reservations makes no room for this.

COUNTERVIEW

Chandan Nandy

Nothing sacrosanct about 50%

Reserving central and state government jobs for the differently-abled is not a privilege but absolutely essential in a welfare state in which disabled people enjoy little equality even as significant barriers prevent their inclusion in the workforce. Among the most vulnerable sections of the population, disabled people are in desperate need for at least a 3% job quota that will help them develop a more secure sense of self and social belonging. Being part of the government labour force will give them the right to live as full citizens especially when so much is stacked against them.

Differently-abled people deserve a special job quota of their own to be targets of the affirmative action programme, over and above the 50% quota which exists for other social categories. Whether for historical or biological reasons, all of these are disadvantaged categories who are denied basic rights and even become targets of social ostracism to greater or lesser degree. Instead of playing a game of divide and rule among them, it is only right that all these categories should enjoy special job quotas redressing their disadvantage.

The Supreme Court, therefore, was right in throwing out the government's argument that a 3% quota for the disabled would violate the 50% ceiling that exists for the weaker sections of society. While the 50% ceiling should apply to 'vertical' categories such as caste and community, social justice demands that there should be additional quotas for other categories. Supposedly a tolerant nation, India has had a poor record in ensuring the rights and needs of its weaker sections, and this needs to be redressed. Civic equality, liberty and opportunity ought to be central to any morally defensible democracy.


The Times of India, 10 October, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Supreme-Court-mandates-3-reservation-for-disabled-in-government-jobs/articleshow/23830535.cms


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