What is affirmative action policy?

Affirmative Action is a policy or program providing advantages for people of a minority group who are seen to
have traditionally been discriminated against, with the aim of creating a more egalitarian society through
preferential access to education, employment, healthcare, social welfare, etc. Affirmative action has the same
goal as equal opportunity, but differs from equal opportunity in being proactive . Equal opportunity is a passive
policy that seeks to ensure that discrimination will not be tolerated once it is detected. In contrast, with
affirmative action, organizations use established practices not only to subvert, but also to avert, discrimination. 

Disadvantaged groups are a part and parcel of our socio-economic and political formations in the form of race,
colour, caste, gender and biological disability. Efforts have been on
to assimilate these marginalised groups into the mainstream of socio-economic and political life, especially
since the last half of the twentieth century. Arguments are presented both for and against affirmative action as
well as providing the legal and moral rationale for the continued application of affirmative action type
programmes.

THE RELEVANCE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.” Here,
arises the need for such positive discrimination which would make
humanity more humane and progressive. Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics wrote, justice is equality, as all
men believe it to be quite apart from any argument. Indeed, in Greek, the word equality means justice. To be
just is to be equal and to be unjust is to be unequal.

Affirmative action becomes essential in righting societal inequities. It is based on the “principle of redress”; that
undeserved inequalities call for rectification. Since inequalities of birth are undeserved, these inequalities are to
be somehow compensated for. According to Rawls, thus, in order to treat all persons equally and to provide
genuine equality of opportunity, society must give more attention to those born into or placed in less favourable
social positions. Affirmative action was established as a part of society’s efforts to address continuing problems
of discrimination; the empirical evidence presented in the preceding pages indicates that it has had a somewhat
positive impact on remedying the effects of discrimination. whether such discrimination still exists today is a
central element of any analysis of affirmative action.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN INDIA

India has been practicing affirmative action in its essence, longer and more aggressively than any other place in
the world. It is with the lofty aim of alleviating the sufferings of the underprivileged and exploited sections of
Indian society and for reconstruction and transformation of a hierarchical society emphasizing inequality into a
modern egalitarian society based on individual achievement and equal opportunity for all that the protective
discrimination programme was devised under the Indian Constitution. However, this ideal of egalitarianism did
not come about in a day or two; rather it was the culmination of a long process of change in the traditional
pattern of a medieval caste ridden society. These changes were, in fact, the culmination of a long drawn process
of transformation in the traditional patterns of a caste-ridden society. Two factors worked as catalysts in the
process; the indigenous reforms and western influences. Reservations in jobs, educational  institutions,
legislatures and in local self-governing institutions, better known as Panchayati Raj institutions for scheduled
castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes and now women has been a grand experiment by any standard.
It may also be noted that scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes are a whole cluster of
thousands of castes spread over the length and breadth of the country.
 Historical Background
The Policy of Affirmative Action through the concept of reservation was introduced by Jyotirao Phule. The task
to implement this idea of Phule was undertaken by his disciple Rajashre Chatrapati Shahu Majaraj. 1 It was first
introduced in 1901 in Maharashtra. In Indian society because of the caste system, India has also followed one
type of racism and because of this when the Indian constitution was drafted the makers of Indian constitution
introduced reservation for certain caste and people, Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes.

In the year 1902, Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj, Maharaja of Kolhapur in Maharashtra introduced reservation in
favor of backward classes to eradicate poverty and give them chance to participate in the state administration.
The notification of 1902 created 50% reservation in services for backward classes/communities in the State of
Kolhapur. This notification is the first Government An order providing for reservation for the welfare of
depressed classes in India. Because of caste system millions of families in India got ill-treatment and no
opportunities to rise in society .In 1908, Reservations were introduced in favor of a number of castes and
communities that had little share in the administration by the British.

In 1947, India obtained Independence and Dr. Ambedkar was appointed the chairman of the drafting committee
for Indian Constitution. On 26/01/1950, The Constitution of India came into force.

In 1951, In the case of State of Madras Vs. Smt. Champakam Dorairanjan 2 , the Supreme Court has pronounced
that caste-based reservations as per Communal Award violate Article 15(1). The 1st constitutional amendment
(Art. 15 (4)) introduced to make judgment invalid.

In 1953, Kalelkar Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and educationally backward
class.

In 1963, Court has put 50% cap on reservations in the case of M R Balaji v Mysore 3. Tamil Nadu (69%, under
9th schedule) and Rajasthan 68% exceeded this limit. In 1994, Supreme Court advised Tamil Nadu to follow
50% limit

In 1979, Mandal Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and educationally backward.
In 1980, the commission submitted a report, and recommended changes to the existing quotas, increasing them
from 22% to 49.5%. As of 2006 number of castes in the backward class list went up to 2297 which is the
increase of 60% from community list prepared by Mandal commission.

In 1990, Mandal commission recommendations were implemented in Government Jobs by Vishwanath Pratap
Singh.

In 1991, Narasimha Rao Government introduced 10% separate reservation for Poor among Forwarding Castes.

In 1995, Parliament by 77th Constitutional amendment inserted Art 16(4) (A) permitting reservation in
promotions to the Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes.

2005 August 12 - The Supreme Court delivered a unanimous judgment by 7 judges on August 12, 2005 in the
case of P.A. Inamdar & Ors. V. State of Maharashtra & Ors 4. declaring that the State can't impose its
reservation policy on minority and non-minority unaided private colleges, including professional colleges. The
2005-93rd Constitutional amendment brought for ensuring reservations. To other backward classes and
Scheduled castes and Tribes in Private Educational institutions. This effectively reversed the 2005 August
Supreme Court judgment.

Currently, as per the government policy, 15% of the government jobs and 15% of the students admitted to
universities must be from Scheduled castes and for the Scheduled tribes there is a reservation of about 7.5 %.

1
History of Reservation of India URL- http://indianliberationnews.com/index.php/download/item/53-history-
of-reservation-in-india
2
State of Madras Vs. Smt. Champakam Dorairanjan AIR 1951 SC 226
3
M R Balaji v Mysore AIR 1963 SC 649.
4
P.A. Inamdar & Ors. V. State of Maharashtra & Ors Appeal (civil) 5041 of 2005.
Other than this, the state governments also follow their own reservation policies respectively based upon the
population constitution of each state. So nearly 50% seats are reserved

Reservation Policy in India is a process of reserving a certain percentage of seats (maximum 50%) for a certain
class such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward classes. 5The reservation policy is operative
mainly in three spheres: government jobs, admission to public educational institutions and seats in central, state
and local legislatures and bodies.6

Constitutional Provisions governing Affirmative Action

To achieve the objective of "Equality" with many facets, special provisions have been made in the Constitution
of India. The Constitution provides certain special provisions to the SCs and STs to protect their educational and
economic interest. These provisions are known as ‘protective discrimination policy’. They are related to (i)
political reservations (Articles 330 and 332); (ii) reservation of seats in educational institutions (Articles 15(4),
29, 46); and (iii) reservation of government jobs (Articles 16(4), 320(4), 333 and 335). The Constitution
provides equality before the law and positive legal measures against the disabilities based on birth (Articles
15(2) (3); 29(2), 244 and 371(a)). By the various acts of parliament, the provisions received legal status.

(i) Political Reservation- (Articles 330 and 332)

(ii) Educational Reservation- (Articles 15(4), 29, and 46)

(iii) Employment Quota/Reservation- (Articles 16(4), 320(4), 333, and 335)

(iv) Positive measures against the disabilities based on birth- (Articles 15(2)(3); 29(2), 244 and
371(a)

Conclusion
Affirmative Action in India plays an important role for the upliftment of the SC’s, ST’s, socially &
economically backward classes. And many steps and provisions are made by the government of India regarding
the reservation policies after India got independent. But as time passed there was the huge upliftment in the
standard of living of the SC’s, ST’s and OBC while the policies and the provisions remained as similar to that
time. Now it can be seen that these backward classes are on the path to advancement and they are improving in
terms of socio-economic and political participation in nation building.

However, there is need for more effective implementation and constant upgradation and updating the list of the
beneficiaries furthermore, there has to be added emphasis over improving the situation of Tribals residing in the
scheduled areas of the nation. There has to be emphasis over awareness campaigns regarding the procedure to
avail the benefit of the affirmative action policies. Furthermore, in addition to the current mechanism
surrounding the affirmative action policies there has to more focus over ensuring women reservation in certain
sectors as well because even though the backward sections of the society have seen substantial progress due to
the affirmative action but still gender disparity is prevalent.

5
All About Reservation Policy In India URL- https://blog.ipleaders.in/reservation-policy-india/
6
Reservation in Employment, Education, and Legislature, Written by: Sukhadeo Thorat and Chittanjan
Senapati, URL- http://www.dalitstudies.org.in/download/wp/0705.pdF