Decode Politics: In SC/ST quota debate, Modi now attacks Nehru. What was former PM’s stand?

With his remarks on reservations at a rally in Bihar on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened up another front on the issue. “The truth is that had there been no Ambedkar, Nehru would not have allowed quota for SC/STs,” he said, while going on to allege that the Opposition INDIA bloc wanted to change the Constitution and extend reservations to religious minorities.

A look at the Constituent Assembly debates over giving Constitutional status to reservations:

What was the initial provision for reservations?

The Constitution, when it first came into force, included provisions to provide reservations in political institutions and public employment for people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

What is now Article 16 of the Constitution – which allows states to reserve appointments to state services for “any backward class of citizens which… are not adequately represented” – was initially known as “draft Article 10”, when the members of the Constituent Assembly debated it on November 30, 1948.

The phrase “any backward class” in the draft version (and eventually the final version) was a hotly contested subject. Many members believed the phrase to be too vague as the term “backward class” was not defined anywhere else in the Constitution.

What were the Constituent Assembly members’ views?

Members including the Congress’s Chandrika Ram and Dharam Prakash, one of the first Dalit lawyers in the country and a future Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, respectively, advocated to explicitly include the term “Scheduled Caste” in the place of (or in addition to) the term “backward class” to clarify which groups of people could avail the benefits of reservations.

On the other hand, members such as Lokanath Misra and Damodar Swarup Seth, who were also part of the Congress, sought deletion of the reservations provided for “backward classes”. Misra, addressing the Assembly, stated: “Everybody has a right to employment, food, clothing, shelter and all those things, but it is not a fundamental right for any citizen to claim a portion of state employment, which ought to go by merit alone. It can never be a fundamental right.”

What was B R Ambedkar’s opinion?

Addressing the debate around the word “backward”, Ambedkar acknowledged that it is a “generic principle”. However, to ensure that equality of opportunity was provided to all citizens in the matter of public employment, he argued that the word “backward” was a necessary qualifier to make sure that the “exception” of reservations provided to oppressed communities did not “eat up” the right to equality of opportunity altogether. As for the specific question “What is a backward community?”, he said that this would be determined by each local or state government.

What was Nehru’s view on reservations?

While Nehru did not contribute to the debate in the Constituent Assembly on Articles related to reservations, after he became the PM, he wrote a letter in June 1961 to chief ministers, where he emphasised the need for empowering backward groups by giving them access to good education and not by reserving jobs based on caste and creed.

“It is true that we are tied up with certain rules and conventions about helping SCs and STs. They deserve help, but even so, I dislike any kind of reservation, more particularly in service… The only real way to help a backward group is to give opportunities for good education. This includes technical education, which is becoming more and more important. Everything else is provision of some kind of crutches which do not add to the strength or health of the body,” he wrote.

In the letter, he went on to say that reservations on communal and caste basis “swamp the bright and able people while the society remains second-rate or third-rate”. “I am grieved to learn of how far this business of reservation has gone based on communal consideration,” he added.

What does the Constitution say on quota in legislatures?

The Constitution introduced reservations for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies under Articles 330 and 332 respectively.

Some members of the Constituent Assembly, including Brajeshwar Prasad and H J Khandekar, argued that reservations were an inadequate measure and would not result in any progress for oppressed communities. Prasad believed that the nominal representation of SCs and STs would not result in economic and educational upliftment, stating that the few leaders that are elected will “raise a terrible hue and cry but nothing substantial will be achieved”.

Objections were also raised regarding the 10-year time limit for reservations under Article 334 (draft Article 295-A). Under the Constitution initially, the provisions for reservation in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies were meant to expire after 10 years, and a large host of members expressed doubts that any sort of quality could be reached within such a short time limit.

Independent member and tribal rights activist Jaipail Singh for instance, said, “I regret it is there only for ten years, because I am convinced that India is not going to become heaven, that everybody is not going to become a graduate in ten years or that everybody will get politically educated.”

What is the current status of the provision?

These Articles were eventually adopted with few changes despite a heated debate in the Constituent Assembly. However, Article 334 has been the subject of a host of Constitutional amendments, where the 10-year limit has been extended by an additional 10 years each time. Most recently, in 2020, following the Constitution (104th) Amendment Act, the time limit for SC and ST reservations in legislatures was extended till 2030. These repeated extensions are now the subject of a pending challenge before a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court.

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