Reservation Policy in India: Constitutional Provisions, Social Justice, and Political Dynamics

The eminent Indian thinkers did not have uniform views on ‘Reservation to the Socially Disadvantaged class of society’. Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of ‘Casteless India’, so the reservation to Dalits would still worsen the evil caste system that would further damage the rights of the socially disadvantaged class; Vallabh Bai Patel forecasted that ‘ the reservation to Dalits would not be confined to only Dalits, in the future, every caste and tribe in the society would demand reservation, and share it that would damage the constitutional rights of Dalits in general merit quotas thereby it would once again isolate the Dalits and push back them to their original social status. But Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar did not accept the ideology of Gandhi and Patel, and he argued that using reservations as a selective measure to assure justice to Dalits in the social, educational, economic, and political fields, so he incorporated the provisions of reservations in the Constitution of India. After long discussions on the Articles of the Constitution in parliament, the Constitution was adopted, and the reservation system came into operation from 1947, initially declaring 20% reservations to the Scheduled Castes.

   "Reservation Policy in India: Constitutional Provisions, Social Justice, and Political Dynamics" is a research work on Dr. Ambedkar's policy and practice of reservation for the upliftment of the ‘Untouchables and the Oppressed Classes and disgraced Tribes’ as per the Poona Pact-1932; it focuses on the provisions of the Indian Constitution relating to reservation given to the Untouchables and the Disgraced Tribes, a community that has been exploited for centuries. The book consists of twelve chapters: they focus on the reservation policy of India, which includes the criteria for determining reservation as per the respective articles of the Constitution of India including the definitions of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities, the conspiracies in various guises to deprive the beneficiaries of the reservation benefits given to the Untouchables and the Oppressed Classes and Tribes and to suppress them; the reports of the Indian Backward Classes Commission submitted from time to time, their attempt to make reservation a universal rather than a selective measure, and the observations and directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on those reports, the amendments to the Constitution of India relating to reservation, the 103rd Constitution Amendment Act-2019 and the Public Interest Litigations filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, arguments thereon,  arguments and observations of the court; discrimination in the implementation of the reservation policy, reservation problems, adverse effects of political reservation on the Scheduled Castes, solutions to reservation problems, and a summary of reservation policy and practice are discussed. The then Home Minister, the Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had convinced Hon’ble Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar about the shortcomings of reservation i.e., everyone would claim reservation facility based on caste and creed that would marginalize the real beneficiaries in the future course of time, but Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had rejected Hon’ble Patel's suggestion, considering it to be anti-reservation. But today, time is answering Hon’ble Patel's doubts; The conspiracies to distribute reservations like candy to all classes of people have already begun. There is no doubt that by distributing reservations based on population, the inflexible caste system has been further strengthened, and the soul of the Indian Constitution to build a caste-free society has been defeated. The work is useful for general readers, scholars, students, and researchers. It can also be a good reference book for researchers conducting research on India's reservation policy.