A hint of a likely ideological faultline seemed to surface fleetingly in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) soon after the Supreme Court verdict momentously upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment that accorded 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for economic weaker sections (EWS) of society.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan extended qualified support for the verdict. He echoed the Congress stance that the EWS reservation should not undercut the State-guaranteed affirmative action meant to mitigate the historical backwardness of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and Other Backward Classes. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran echoed a similar sentiment.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P. K.Kunhalikutty appeared to disagree. He said the judgment would dilute the Constitutional provisions providing reservation for socially disadvantaged communities and create new criteria for reservation based on economic status. He said caste discrimination and social inequalities remained.
Mr. Kunhalikutty said the State should address the economic backwardness of forward communities via social welfare programmes. Treating economic backwardness as a criterion for reservation was patently unconstitutional and unjustified.
The Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, a prominent Islamic scholarly body, mirrored a similar view.
A UDF insider said that the difference of opinion in the Opposition coalition over reservation policy had persisted for years, and the SC verdict was unlikely to cause any political realignment.
The sensitive subject has remained on the backburner for a period. Its political fallout remains unclear. Nevertheless, the SC judgement has pushed the touchy topic to the forefront of the political debate.
NSS welcomes verdict
The Nair Service Society (NSS), which wields considerable political heft, has welcomed the verdict. NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair said caste-based reservations overwhelmingly and lopsidedly benefited the creamy layer. Reservation based on economic backwardness was egalitarian and would help the poor and deserving among all castes, he said. “It’s high time caste-based reservation ended”, he said.
The SNDP Yogam, a prominent backward-class social organisation, was silent on the verdict. Its general secretary Vellappally Natesan sought more time to study the judgment and its social implications. C.K. Vidya Sagar, another SNDP Yogam leader, said the 103rd Amendment excluded the poorest of poor among Dalits and backward classes.
CPI(M) not in favour
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has disapproved of the criteria for extending economic reservation. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the yardstick of economic reservation was skewed in favour of the affluent. For one, the Centre has set ₹8 lakh annual income as the benchmark for affirmative action. Also, he said the land ceiling set by the Centre for qualifying for the economic reservation was unjustifiably high.
