Caste census and bankruptcy of Indian left
Why people are poor in India? Why people don't have opportunities in education and employment? Why people don't have decent living wages, social security and good standards of living? Why there is so much inequality?
If you were to believe Congress party, the root cause of India's problems is caste discrimination. And to solve that problem, they propose a caste census on which hundreds of various castes will be identified according to the socioeconomic parameters. On basis of that, the system of reservation/quota will be re-calibrated so that everybody gets a fair piece of pie. But this is all bullshit.
The real causes of poverty in India are manifold. A brief summary is this. At the basic level, India suffers from lack of effective demand in economy. At the same time, India suffers from lack of capital and industrial capacity. Since there's no demand in economy, there are no jobs and no purchasing power (with the people). And since there's no industrial capacity, it's difficult to create employment (with good wages) and generate demand in economy. Most of the economy is rural, unorganized and highly inefficient (low productivity). Indian economy is stuck in low equilibrium - low supply and low demand.
The solution to India's problem is something like this. Expanding industrial capacity and boosting economic demand. With right policies and governance, we can take economy to a higher equilibrium. Roughly, to a point where we produce more, employ more, earn more and we consume more. In the process, we will have higher employment, more organized economy and higher wages. Then with further right policies (on taxes, investment, savings etc) we can redistribute national income to have more equitable society. People will have more job opportunities, higher income and hence better living standards. When there are more job opportunities, we will require more skilled labor. With right policies (education, training, human resource management etc) we can expand educational opportunities, like more seats in colleges, creating more engineers, scientists, doctors, electricians, mechanics, technicians etc. We will create a circuit where we will have more opportunities in employment and education tied to more industrial capacity and higher economic demand. And in between, we can also create an effective job guarantee program, a social safety net, social security, better public healthcare system, better funded public education system and justice system etc.
India has massive unutilized human resources and massive deficit of Capital - industrial capacity, infrastructure, public utilities etc. We have great scarcity of hospitals, housing, schools, factories, mass transit etc. We have scarcity of clean energy production, power plants, water systems, flood control infrastructure, irrigation system, roads etc. We have scarcity of teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists, policemen, technicians, electricians, blue collar workers etc. And we have nearly half of our population under 25 years of age (700 million people) and nearly 30% of our population under 18 years of age (450-500 million) - most of them uneducated, poorly educated and unskilled. A lot of public works need to be done, there's a lot of opportunity for expansion of private sector and there's a lot of human resources that are sitting idle and getting wasted. We need to put all these resources in motion and create a circuit connecting everything.
What happened since India's independence? Without going into all the political, economic and cultural reasons, the summary is that we could not modernize the nation. We remained trapped in rural agrarian village society economy. An unproductive backward economy where we have very little opportunities. In such economy, those that were poor, remained poor - generation after generation. And those who had a lot of wealth fared much better. The inequality increased and wealth became concentrated. All this has nothing to do with caste discrimination. Obviously, if someone was of some arbitrary lower class, he (& his children) remained trapped in poverty. The reason behind the misery of the poor chap (& his future generations) was not Caste discrimination but mostly bad economic policies.
Of course, there's a regressive caste system in India but with right set of economic policies along with certain social policy interventions, the socioeconomic disparity of country is fixable without any need of regressive caste reservation. Suppose a corporation starts an automobile factory in a town, will it hire labor based on any caste? No, it will hire based on labor productivity and labor potential (how fast a labor learns & get trained). Suppose we are building a new highway or a new port, will the contractor hire labor based on caste or religion? No, it will again hire labor on basis of their productivity & wages. Similarly, the organized sector jobs which are overwhelmingly in private sector are filled based on labor potential and productivity, not on basis of caste. So if we make our economy more organized, create more industrial capacity and create more economic demand, the socioeconomic conditions will automatically improve (along with certain social policy interventions). If we look at the data, India pulled most people out of poverty during 2000s. This was when India had the fastest economic growth.Yes, the national income was not more equitably distributed but the impact of growth managed to reach the poor, though not as much as we wanted.
On the flip side, without the right economic policies and instead continuous juggling with quota reservation system, we will remain trapped in present socioeconomic conditions for next 100 years and beyond. What India needs is to expand the wealth of nation, expand the economic pie (more opportunities, higher wages, better social security etc) - so that all the participants in economy can get a bigger slice of pie. What our Govt is doing (since decades) is not expanding the economic pie. Instead it's only redistributing economic pie which is getting smaller and smaller. The job opportunities are shrinking. The wages are stagnating (in terms of real purchasing power). The college seats are shrinking (in contrast to growth of student population). The competitive exams are thus getting more tougher (because they have to fill only few limited seats). Attaining higher education is getting difficult which is aggravated by Govt austerity in public education spending. Lakhs of govt vacancies are not filled for years due to Govt austerity. Private sector jobs are scarce due to stagnant investment and uncertain future.
Indian economy is not progressing to keep up with national demography and population growth. Take example of our higher education system. Much of the education system is now private and out of reach of much of the population (which is in poverty). The public education system is vastly underfunded and under-resourced, from schools to higher education institutions. To get into Govt colleges, you need outrageously high cutoffs in exams or you need to pass through needlessly overly complicated competitive exams. This is actually a system which destroys talent and intellect of society. In a progressing economy, the public education system and institutions are adequately resourced. Universities and colleges have ample number of seats and any student with reasonable competence, qualification and motivation can easily get college admission to pursue his/her career. The number of seats in universities needs to be increased manifold which will absorb the growing young generation.
But our politicians have no competence to overhaul education system. Overhauling education system is a part of broader effort for overhauling economy. It requires high competence, knowledge and vision, something which our political elites are incapable of as i explained in previous article. Most of them are gangsters, fanatics, anti-social criminal elements - the worst scum of society. It's in best interest of politicians to keep society dumb and uneducated. More focus is on building temples and statues. Similarly, more focus is on juggling with quota reservation system to keep the youth distracted.
The history and rationale of reservation system
While the original constitution proposed a reservation system for SC-ST people (as flawed it may was), the system was originally meant for socioeconomically backward classes (class not caste). The constitution never proposed any reservation system for castes (except SC-ST). The narrative of caste based reservation system was invented by the politicians and legalized by reactionary Kangaroo courts.
I do not derive my analytical reasoning from constitution. However, the left, liberals and activists treat constitution as a holy grail. But paradoxically, the left strongly supports the Mandal 2.0 constitutional amendments (as promised in Congress manifesto) which is starkly in contrast to basic structure of constitution. The corrupted Kangaroo courts have supported the populism of political governments to provide legalistic veneer to the political decisions. But the left and liberals instead of challenging the subversion of Constitution by the politicians and Kangaroo courts have instead cheered it on.
Two things that changed Indian politics forever took place in 80s and 90s. One was Advani inventing Hindu nationalism as a political card to build BJP. Other was VP Singh inventing caste politics to re-invent his political career (Congress was a losing its sheen in this period). We know the political roadmap of Hindu populism/Hindu nationalism which created BJP and later brought Modi to power. On other side of coin was Mandal 1.0 politics and newfound OBC demagogy that propelled Congress for several years and later mutated into Mandal 2.0 politics. Both these concepts - religious populism and caste politics are an albatross around the neck of Indian society.
The rationale goes like this. Suppose a X candidate of general category is competing for a job (or college seat) against Y candidate of a backward caste. The ascendants of X abused the ascendants of Y in the past generations. So Y must be given a certain reparation through relaxation of eligibility criteria (marks, cutoff etc) at the cost of X. Now there's really no way of knowing whether ascendants of X practiced caste exploitation or if they actually abused the ascendants of Y. But you have to take it on faith. It's a kind of reverse exploitation. But it's worse, as you don't know whether the exploitation of Y (& his ascendants) even took place and whether the exploitation was the cause of missed opportunities in the past for Y. Much of the socioeconomic problems of India post independence comes from ill-conceived macroeconomic policies not casteism. Substandard education system, lack of employment opportunities, low wages, falling standards of living - all these issues have a solid macroeconomic causes.
The fallacy of oppressed castes - Caste census as an impossible concept - A recipe for destabilization and eternal civil conflict
Congress, liberal activists etc makes you believe that the so called backward castes are weak oppressed people (think of manual scavengers or poor beggars) who are demanding quota as their basic rights. But Arun Shourie has made the correct description of caste leaders & agitators. The caste leaders agitators are actually powerful goons and hooligans. You have seen their agitations (Jats, Gujjars, Yadavs, Patidhars etc). Much of these caste leaders are influential politicians who have cultivated their fiefs for political purposes. Not because they are weak, they are demanding quote. It's because they are strong, they exercise political power to extort quota.
During the Jat quota protests in Haryana, the caste agitators committed mass rapes, violence and vandalism. But because these goons have political power, they could not be held accountable. Similarly, the Gujjars agitators and other caste politicians have routinely exercised violence. Either give them quota/reservation or they will stop trains, destroy public property, do mass violence and block highways. There's a long history of caste agitators violence in various states across India.
The reservation system politics is a fireball that is extremely destabilizing for the state. The hooligan caste leaders to retain and expand their fiefs, will endlessly demand more concessions. When you give concession to one caste, the other caste politicians feel left behind. They then start agitation to demand even more concessions. It's a race to the bottom. The caste census is really a recipe for endless civil conflict in India.
The caste census is practically impossible. There's really no means of identifying hundreds of castes because OBC is an arbitrary concept. To get some supposed benefit, anybody can claim in a census that he's some XYZ OBC. The documentary verification at such large scale is impossible in a poorly organized country. But even if you are somehow able to do caste census riddled with inaccuracies, various caste leaders (as opportunistic as they are) will challenge the results. If Govt proposes some remodeling of reservation system with this new data of possibly hundreds of castes, rival caste politicians will revolt. They will demand higher quota than their rivals (why wouldn't they?). Then there will be endless agitations among communities to secure special treatment and reservations.
Why Congress and regional reactionary parties want a caste census?
Caste census is a meaningless futile exercise so why Congress and regional reactionary parties want it? The political empire of Congress and regional reactionary parties is coming to an end. Their fiefs are now taken over by Fascist forces which is leading towards extinction of old reactionary parties. As a last gambit to get populist traction, the reactionary parties have decided to invoke Caste demagogy on big scale - a nationwide Caste census and new reservation system. The country will get destabilized in the process and nothing meaningful will come out of exercise but rationale of reactionary parties is, that Fascist forces have also polarized and destroyed society, so its also justifiable for reactionary parties if they also propose destructive policies.
OBC is an arbitrary concept. Any opportunistic XYZ caste leader with a political clout and a fief can come forward that his caste is oppressed and should be included in quota system. Caste politics (apart from religious populism), is a fast track way to build political career for caste politicians. With Caste demagogy, the Congress and regional reactionary parties invite all opportunistic caste leaders to join the club. While the BJP appeals to potent formula of religious populism, Congress peddles Caste politics demagogy for political mileage. Behind the veil of populism, both religious and caste politics are the forces of reaction. Instrument used by incompetent scoundrel politicians that keep society backward and subservient to diversionary politics.
However, the Reservation and Caste politics demagogy is stretched to such a limit that it may become a dud. How so? In the rush for maximum political gains, the Congress party is expanding reservation everywhere - all castes, tribes, weaker sections, gender etc. Some liberal parties (partners of INDI alliance) even suggest a reservation for LGBTs. Practically speaking, the bait of Caste politics is effective when it's used for particular set of communities based on their vote share. Such vote bank calculations are carefully planned. Also people take the bait for reservation when they feel that they are getting a special advantage (or domination) over some other set of people. When you pledge reservation to everyone, the feeling of special advantage and prospective benefits diminish or disappear. People may realize that it's just the re-juggling of old system with little clarity in knowing it's definite outcome or if it will be beneficial. For example, if a certain X caste has high vote share which can tilt the electoral balance, then it can be lured with specific extra reservation (say extra 5%). But if you promise all A to Z castes with re-configuring of quota, nobody knows what they will get in the end of exercise and whether it will be satisfactory. If people are smart enough to realize this folly, they will not fall for Caste politics.
The Fascist response to Caste census
Caste census is a regressive concept, an unconstitutional idea and a destructive policy. But how do Fascists counter Caste census narrative? Fascists don't counter Caste census narrative with any rational intelligent argument and objective reasoning. Fascists are one trick ponies and resort to the only trick in their playbook - Majoritarian and communal politics. Fascist declare that Caste census is a plot to redistribute India's wealth by taking away from Hindus and giving it to Muslims.
Why India's Left support Caste census and reservation system?
Much of India's left is tied to liberal parties, so they parrot talking points of political left. There are some Indian leftists, activists who know about the nonsensical & regressive nature of Caste reservation system but they now choose to suppress their criticism mainly because they are repulsive to Fascist BJP party. The activists have been beaten and battered by Fascist forces. These activists want alternative to BJP fascists so they refuse to challenge the Mandal 2.0 narrative of India's remaining political opposition. It's interesting to see that the "Constitutionalists" - the self proclaimed die hard lovers of constitution who (rightly) protested against Modi's attack on secular structure of constitution, illegally amending of constitution (like on article 370) have now however become mute witnesses to attack on constitution by Congress & regional reactionary parties. Either out of intellectual bankruptcy and ignorance or out of repulsiveness towards the BJP Fascists, the left activists have failed to defend the constitution against the attack on Indian constitution by Mandal 2.0 politicians.
The reactionary Caste census issue is not discussed on its actual (de)merits and its consequences. Such is the problem of Indian sociopolitical discourse on most issues. Whereas the Fascists have turned the issue on Hindu-Muslim politics, the left is countering the Fascists by blaming BJP of playing Communal politics (which they are). But on the other side, the Caste politics of Congress is equally reprehensible on which left activists gives Congress a free pass.
Social interventions to solve Dalit oppression
I mentioned the broader economic causes of Indian poverty, unemployment and falling standards of living. But caste discrimination exists against certain backward castes (prominently against dalits) due to cultural and religious reasons. Mandal 2.0 politics has nothing to with the Dalits and issues like untouchability. In fact, the Mandal 2.0 politics as being an opportunistic exploitative doctrine is a diversion from real issues.
The root cause of problem is that India is socioculturally a backward society and little attempts were made to its advancement. The reservation system was actually a smokescreen to avoid making progressive reforms. The kind of reforms we need is cultural transformation of society. That involves taking society away from religion & toxic culture. The constitution gave too much freedom to religion. The religion was made a tax free business. The religious trusts and institutions were allowed to spread unconstrained. The religious institutions amassed enormous wealth and assets like land, and became too powerful.
Then culture of Godmen (snake oil salesman spiritual babas) further aggravated the problem by pushing society away from scientific rational thinking. In 90s, the rise of Hindutva Fascism entrenched religious doctrine into structure of state, proclaiming to make India a Hindu nation, instead of a secular country. Much of the caste supremacists are accumulated in religious militant organizations who are connected to political parties especially BJP. How did religious trusts, religious corporations and militant organizations rose to power in country in past decades? They were enabled by the liberal politicians (Congress etc) and temporized with for decades.
To begin with real reforms, we need to smash the reactionary religious structures of society. Confiscate land and assets of religious trusts, corporations and institutions. Tax all religious institutions and destroy religious tax havens. You can see in every city and town, religious places have done enormous land grabs. Take back all the land and utilize it for public purpose (housing, school, hospital etc). Enforce strict capital limits on religious institutions. Tax religious corporations out of business. A religious trust shall not own more that an acre of land. Also outlaw religious trusts, corporations and organizations that are involved in violence, public disorder and anarchy (VHP, Bajrang Dal, Patanjali etc) These kind of reforms were actually needed 70 years ago. But founding fathers never had the intent to do bold reforms.
Caste discrimination is everywhere but it's mostly concentrated in rural backward India. Rural India is still based on neofeudal landlord system. In fact, many of politicians are big landlords. Some reforms were made to redistribute land and limit land ownership but they didn't get far enough. The land of rentiers (big landlords), so called upper caste leaders and politicians need to be confiscated and again put to public purpose, community and corporate farming with modern farm practices.
Caste reservation system actually reinforces caste discrimination. The XYZ castes today are not discriminated for old cultural reasons but for reservation system itself. A feeling of injustice is brewing in general category of candidates that XYZ castes are stealing their opportunities. If we make our economy and education system sufficiently accommodating, like increasing college seats by manifold and increasing Govt jobs by manifold. The XYZ castes as well as general category candidates will all be sufficiently absorbed in the system, giving them education careers and employment. In fact, regressive reservation system is not needed to give opportunities to so called reserved categories.
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