Employment Scenario and the Reservation Policy - EPW
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
NOTES
Employment Scenario and have welcomed it, claiming it is a good
initiative for the poor, the very first, in
the Reservation Policy fact, that includes Muslims under its
umbrella (Bhalla 2019). Some have gone
to argue that if it were to be given at all,
it “would have made more sense to
Paaritosh Nath have limited 10 per cent EWS reservation
to those with farming or rural back-
I
In its haste to placate the t would be an understatement to say grounds” (Damodaran 2019).
growing resentment amongst that the decision by the Narendra Modi Alongside the first set of reactions that
government to introduce the 124th criticise the amendment for going against
the unemployed youth, the
amendment to the Constitution has tak- the spirit of social justice, there have been
Indian government has come up en people by surprise. The proposed bill three main grounds for objection. First is
with an ill-informed and loose (now law) that sought to amend Articles that this is an attempt by the government
definition of who constitutes the 15 and 16 of the Constitution to provide to mask its failure in job creation.2 Second,
for the advancement of “economically the government should first look at fulfill-
“economically weak.” Some of
weaker sections” (EWS) was passed almost ing the constitutionally mandated reserva-
the major arguments that have unanimously in both houses of Parliament tion policy of those hailing from deprived
been levied against the 124th without much debate. Introduced in the backgrounds. Third, that the criterion se-
amendment to the Constitution run-up to the general assembly elections lected for identifying the poor is flawed.
of 2019, this “pro-poor” amendment pro- However, none of the opposing voices
are empirically substantiated
vides for 10% reservation in jobs and have been able to substantiate their claims
in the light of the current state educational institutions to economically with solid numbers. This has mainly
of employment generation, backward sections in the general category been due to the lack of any reliable data
particularly in the public sector, (International Business Times 2019). on employment that currently exists in
The element of surprise was owing to the public domain. As Chandrasekhar
as well as the performance of the
the fact that prior to the cabinet note, (2019) notes, official employment fig-
state with respect to fulfilling the reservation for upper castes was not a ures for recent dates are proving to be dif-
existing reservation policy. major issue of debate. In 2010, the S R ficult to come by, given the suspension of a
Sinho Commission had submitted a re- number of statistical surveys relied on in
port to the government recommending the past to gauge trends in employment
the carving out of a category for those generation. The quinquennial Employ-
classified as Economically Backward ment–Unemployment Surveys (euss) car-
Class (EBC). However, no further action ried out by the National Sample Survey
was taken in that direction. While there Office (NSSO), which up until 2011–12
have been caste-based agitations by dif- were the most preferred source for esti-
ferent interest groups during the tenure mating employment trends and patterns,
of this government, much of these agita- were suspended on the grounds that a
tors demanded their inclusion within the data set with a higher frequency interval
groups that qualified for reservation in was required for estimating employment
the existing 49.5% structure (Dangwal figures in the economy.3 In its place, the
2017). No independent commission or Labour Bureau’s annual household sur-
enquiry was set up by the Modi government veys and the quarterly Quick Employment
that would shed more light on who exactly Surveys (QES) were used to estimate em-
comprised these “economically weak” per- ployment figures roughly covering the
sons and what the economic and social period from 2012 to 2017.
conditions that informed the lives of According to Abraham (2017), the pic-
such persons were like.1 Since the bill was ture that emerged from these data sources
first announced, there have been varied was that of an absolute decline of employ-
reactions to this legislation. Some com- ment in India during this period, with
The author wishes to thank the anonymous
mentators have absolutely decried the much of it probably in the unorganised
referee for helpful suggestions.
move citing it “as the beginning of the sector, while the organised sector wit-
Paaritosh Nath (paaritoshnath@gmail.com) is end for social justice in the form of caste- nessed a sharp decline in the growth of em-
with the Aman Biradri Trust, New Delhi.
based reservation” (Shinde 2019). Others ployment. The stagnation in employment
56 MAY 11, 2019 vol lIV no 19 EPW Economic & Political WeeklyNOTES
Figure 1: Worker Participation Rates in India, Usual Status, 15 Years Figure 3: Unemployment Rate (%) amongst the Educated Youth
and Above (%) (15–29 Years) by Usual Status, 1999–2000 to 2015–16
Graduate and above
100 Higher secondary
Rural males 30
84.1 84.6 80.0 Youth unemployment
75.7 28.2
80 24.1 rate average
75.2 76.3 74.1 21.1
Urban males 67.1 20 19.1
60
45.2 48.5 14.7
35.2 12.7 12.5
40 30.2
Rural females 10 9.5
19.7 22.7 19.5 10.3
20
5.4 5.4 6.1
Urban females 14.8
0 0
1999–2000 2004–05 2011–12 2015–16 1990–2000 2004–05 2011–12 2015–16
Source: NSSO 55th, 61st and 68th unit-level records and Fifth Labour Bureau Employment– Source: NSSO 55th, 61st and 68th Unit level records and Fifth Labour Bureau Employment–
Unemployment Surveys. Unemployment Surveys.
Figure 2: Unemployment Rates, Usual Status, by Social Group (Out of 1,000 Figure 4: Employees (in Lakh) Excluding Contract Workers, CPSE,
Persons), 2015–16 2015–16 2006–07 to 2016–17
2011–12 2015–16 (Principal status) 18
60
50 2004–05 52 50
50 16.1
44 16
39 40
40 34 14.5
30 27 14
30
24 22 21 21 20
20
14 12
9
10
11.3
0 10
Scheduled Tribes Scheduled Castes Other Backward Classes Others 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
Source: NSSO 61st and 68th unit-level records and Fifth Labour Bureau Employment– Source: Public Enterprise Survey, 2016–17.
Unemployment Surveys.
was widespread, affecting almost all the issues of the Public Enterprise Surveys is of 1,000 Scheduled Caste (SC) persons in
sectors of the economy. Unfortunately, used. The Labour Bureau’s Fifth Annual 2015–16 were available for work but not
both these surveys have not come out EUs data carries information on the employed as against 21 SCs in 2011–12. The
with any new estimates since 2015–16 previous year for which comparable corresponding unemployment rates for
and October 2017, respectively. employment data is available for 2015–16, Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Sched-
The only source of employment data is also used.5 Even though the most uled Tribes (STs) and “Others” in 2015–
that is available is the Consumer Pyra- recent trends are not available, a snap- 16 was 2.4%, 3.9% and 4%, respectively.
mids Household Survey (CPHS) under- shot of the employment picture in 2015–16 On the basis of the principal status defi-
taken by the Centre for Monitoring Indi- would be useful to put into perspective nition (only those who were employed
an Economy (CMIE). As per the CMIE, some of the finer points surrounding for six months or more being considered
around 1 crore people had lost their jobs the 10% reservation debate. as employed), which is a far more stricter
in 2018 with the total employment falling criterion of measuring unemployment,
to 39.69 crore in December 2018 (Finan- Where Are the Jobs? note that the unemployment rates of
cial Express 2019). Although the CMIE Confirming Abraham’s (2017) assessment the SCs, STs, OBCs and “Others” become
data set covers more households than of the economy as a whole, worker partici- 4.4%, 5%, 5.2% and 5%, respectively.
both the quinquennial NSSO and Labour pation rates (WPRs) of both males and It is to be noted that the difference
Bureau surveys, it is strictly not compa- females continued their downward slide in the unemployment rates between
rable to these data sets and thus, is of since 2004–05, falling even further in “Others” and STs comes down to 0
limited use when trying to establish long- 2015–16. Urban females in 2015–16 had when the principal status criterion is
term trends.4 Furthermore, with refer- the lowest WPR at 14.8% while the cor- taken (as against 1.6%) implying that a
ence to the quota debate, information is responding rate for their rural counter- far greater share of ST workers were
needed for the employment generated in parts was 30.2% (Figure 1). It is to be employed in subsidiary forms of em-
the public sector (that too on a caste- noted that these figures were obtained ployment (usually of an extremely poor
wise segregation basis), which is even on the basis of the “usual status” defini- quality) when compared to the “Others”
more difficult to capture now with the tion of employment which also takes category counterparts.
suspension of the NSSO rounds. Given into account the rather lenient subsidi- What is even more worrying is that the
the above limitations and for the pur- ary status understanding which consid- unemployment rate amongst the youth
pose of highlighting employment data, ers as employed even those who were (15–29 years) was higher in 2015–16 than
keeping the quota debate in mind, the engaged in an economic activity for just it has been in the last 15 years. While only
available information from the annual a month in the past 12 months. 54 youths out of 1,000 were unemployed
reports brought out by different minis- Consequently, during this period, we in 1999–2000, 103 youths now found
tries such as the Ministry of Railways, note a considerable rise in the unem- themselves to be unemployed in 2015–16.
India Post, Ministry of Personnel, Public ployment rates across different social Unemployment rates were furthermore
Grievances and Pensions as well as various categories (Figure 2). For example, 34 out highest for the most educated youth
Economic & Political Weekly EPW MAY 11, 2019 vol lIV no 19 57NOTES
Figure 5: Number of Employees in SBI, Other Nationalised Banks 11.3 lakh in 2016–17, which Figure 6: Number of Employees, Public
and Regional Rural Banks (in lakh) Administration, 2011–12 and 2015–16 (in lakh)
Officers Clerks
is a fall of 4.8 lakh workers 2011–12 56.6
Subordinates 60 56
during a period of 10 years 2015–16
9.7 9.3 9.5 9.1 9.1 40.3 41.5
Total (Figure 4, p 57). A 10% 40
4.3
reservation in 2006–07
4.2 3.9 4.2 4.3 20
3.7 3.6 3.4 3.3 3.3 would have amounted to
1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.6 lakh workers, that is, 0
Regular Total
2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 three times the proposed Source: NSSO 68th unit-level records and Fifth Labour
Bureau Employment–Unemployment Surveys.
Source: Database of the Indian Economy, RBI. 10% have already been
with the rates for those educated up to lost in the past 10 years due to cutbacks in clerical staff that saw lay-offs of more
“higher secondary” being 12.5% and for government employment. than 90,000 persons during this period.
those having an education status of “grad- Officers, on the other hand, have risen in
uation and above” being a staggering Indian Railways: One of the largest pub- number during the same time period by
28.2% (Figure 3, p 57). It must also be lic sector employers also saw an absolute about 55,000 persons.
noted that the unemployment rate of the decline in employment during this period
educated youth are higher now than they with the total number of employed falling Public administration: Data on those
have been since the turn of the century. by around 90,000 persons between 2007 who are engaged in “Public Administra-
From the above analysis, the story of and 2017. From Table 1, note that while tion” (NIC: 841) in total was obtained
job creation in the last couple of years has there was an absolute increase in the from the fifth Labour Bureau—EUS and
been a dismal one with WPRs falling and number of Group A and C employees, a the NSSO’s 68th Employment–Unemploy-
unemployment rates rising across social massive cutback took place with respect to ment Round (Figure 6). It is to be noted
categories. The share of unemployed Group D workers, which led to an overall that this could also include those engaged
youth, and more specifically, the educated fall in employment figures. in various levels of administrative duties
unemployed youth is higher now than it in any of the sectors. From the same,
has been in the recent past. There are India Post: Data for those employed by total employment fell by around 15 lakh
not enough jobs being generated in the India Post could be accessed only from persons during the five-year time period.
economy which would partly explain the 2012–13 onwards. Between 2012–13 and The fact of the matter is that in the last
recent agitations by the Jats and Maratha 2016–17, total number of employees fell couple of years, employment has shrunk
youth for being included in caste-based for all the different worker categories at an alarmingly rapid pace in this sector.
reservations for public sector jobs. with the number of gazette officers fall- Some of the major employers in this seg-
ing at a compound annual growth rate ment have in fact rescinded a far greater
Public Sector Employment (CAGR) of 5.3% while the number of non- number of jobs than that which would
As data, specifically for this sector, is dif- gazetted staff positions fell at a CAGR of have been covered under the 10% quota.
ficult to obtain, reports of some of the -2.3%. In total, there was an absolute de- The new reservations are thus going to be
major employers (in the public sector) cline of more than 18,000 posts during implemented in a scenario of ever decre-
are assessed. However, the available in- this five-year period (Table 2). asing pool of jobs. As a result of this, fewer
formation from official reports does not job opportunities are going to be availa-
present a very happy picture. State Bank of India, other nationalised ble to all social categories, including the
According to the Central Public Sector banks and regional rural banks: The “poor upper castes” irrespective of whether
Enterprises (CPSEs), for example, the same five-year period saw a fall of or not they are entitled to reservation. A
number of non-contractual employees around 60,000 persons, from 9.7 lakh in 10% reservation of an ever decreasing to-
has fallen from 16.1 lakh in 2006–07 to 2012–13 to 9.1 lakh in the State Bank of tal would effectively leave the supposedly
India (SBI), other nationalised banks aggrieved sections, on the whole, with a
Table 1: Number of Employees by Group
Categorisation, Indian Railways, 2007–17 and regional rural banks (Figure 5). lower number of jobs than before. Facing
2007 2011 2017 Much of this fall took place amongst the an acute crisis of employment creation, it
Group A 7,959 8,848 9,741
Table 2: Number of Employees, Gazetted and Non-gazetted, India Post, 2012–13 and 2016–17
Group B 7,816 8,093 6,598
2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
Group C
Gazetted officers
(i) Workshop artisan 2,94,865 3,29,253 3,30,142 Group A 665 576 609 614 619
(ii) Running 89,120 94,850 1,12,955 Group B 3,773 3,333 3,226 3,070 2,948
(iii) Others 5,14,507 6,55,114 7,68,275 Total gazetted staff 4,438 3,909 3,835 3,684 3,567
Group D Non-gazetted officers
(i) Workshop artisan 1,36,574 55,942 22,905 Group C (including Group B non-gazetted) 1,68,991 1,65,994 1,65,312 1,60,781 1,52,659
(ii) Others 3,467,69 1,80,402 57,707 MTS 29,273 30,491 30,148 29,346 28,191
Total 13,97,610 13,32,502 13,08,323 Total non-gazetted staff 1,98,264 1,96,485 1,95,460 1,90,127 1,80,850
Source: Annual Reports and Accounts, Ministry of Railways, All employees 2,02,702 200,394 1,99,295 1,93,811 1,84,417
various years. Source: Annual Reports.
58 MAY 11, 2019 vol lIV no 19 EPW Economic & Political WeeklyNOTES
Figure 7: Caste-wise Distribution of Employees, Central Public Sector Figure 8: Caste-wise Representation in Central Government
Enterprises 2016–17 (%) Services, 2017–18, by Group (%)
100 100
33
80 39 80 51 52
44 53
Others 55 68 62 Others
60 16 14
60
27 22 7
40 19
18 40 ST 23 22
16 ST 10 14 15
20 9 9 13
6 OBC 7 OBC 9 45 8
24 19 20 19 20 6
16 SC 16 SC 17 17
0 13
Managerial Supervisors Workers Workers Total 0 A B C (excluding safai D (safai Total
executives skilled unskilled
karamchari) karamchari)
Source: Public Enterprise Survey, 2016–17. Source: Annual report 2017–18, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
appears that the government has tried reservation falling short of the constitu- Administration” (NIC 841), the share of
to placate the anger of the growing tional mandate, while SCs just about total SCs employed have fallen from
sections of the unemployed by appeal- managing the same. With respect to 23.3% to 20.1%.7
ing to a commonly held (yet rarely Central Government Services (CGS), the It becomes not only clear that the
substantiated) notion amongst the up- total OBC personnel fell short of the 27% public sector has been facing massive
per-caste sections that reservations and constitutional mandate (Figure 8). Con- cutbacks in total job creation, but also
not the growth trajectory adopted by the firming the trends, the majority of Class A that there exists severe lacunae with re-
state is the primary reason for their state (68%) and Class B (62%) officers be- gard to implementing the prevailing
of joblessness. longed to the unreserved sections. It was reservation policy in the public sector.
only in the category of “safai karam- Open category personnel still constitute a
Employees in the Public Sector charis” that a much higher share (com- majority in the public sector workforce,
According to a recent report published by pared to their constitutional mandate) of particularly when it comes to Groups A
a leading English news daily, SCs, STs and, SCs (45%) and a much smaller share of and B (read best quality) jobs. In some
especially OBCs are found to be under- non-reserved category persons (33%) the Indian Railways and India Post, the
represented in the higher echelons of the can be observed. share of SC personnel has been falling
government—Groups A and B—and most The situation of existing caste-wise with time. The OBC reservation woefully
of its institutions (Indian Express 2019). representation may also be getting worse falls short of the prescribed levels across
Detailing information received from gov- in certain major segments of India’s the key public sector enterprises.
ernment agencies via the use of the right public sector. For example, in Indian Various caste-based interest groups
to information (RTI) act the report goes on Railways, between 2007 and 2017, the and political parties have been vocifer-
to describe the current state of reserva- share of Group A officers who belong to ous of the major gaps in implementing
tions in different segments of the public the SC category has actually fallen from the existing reservation policy, which
sector. In central universities, RTI data 15.12% to 13.48%. The situation is worse has been raised time and again, and this
shows that 95.2% of professors, 92.9% off in India Post where between 2012 should have ideally formed a crucial
associate professors and 66.27% assistant and 2017, the overall share of SC component of any debate revolving
professors are from the “Open” category.6 employees has fallen from 17.38% to around the “pro-poor” agenda of the
The share of “Open” category persons 16.84%. Similarly, comparing data state and its policies of affirmative action.
(in the total number of Groups A and B obtained from the 68th NSSO Employ- What exists, however, is an incomplete
officers) in the NITI Aayog, Union Public ment–Unemployment round and the reservation programme for the histori-
Service Commission (UPSC), Comptroller fifth EUS in the industrial category “Public cally disadvantaged social groups and a
and Auditor General of India (CAG) office
Table 3: Share of SC and ST Personnel, Indian Railways, 2007 and 2017
and Cabinet Secretariat was found to be 2007
73.84%, 64.76%, 66.79% and 80.25%, SC SC% ST ST%
Group A 1,212 15.12 541 6.75
respectively. The OBC reservations seem to
Group B 1,311 16.61 582 7.38
be the worst hit here with total OBC officers
Group C 1,34,025 14.88 56,024 6.22
falling way short of the mandated 27%. Group D (excluding safaiwalas) 72,704 16.67 29,658 6.8
Data from the CPSE reports presents a Group D safaiwalas 26,996 55.92 2,605 5.4
similar story (Figure 7). While “Others” Total (excluding safaiwalas) 2,09,252 15.47 86,805 6.42
formed 53% of the total employees in Total (including safaiwalas) 2,36,248 16.86 89,410 6.38
2017
these public sector enterprises in 2016–17,
SC SC% ST ST%
OBCs formed only 19% of the same. The
Group A 1,314 13.48 716 7.34
highest level of employees, that is, the
Group B 1,155 17.49 490 7.42
managers/executives saw the share of Group C (includes erstwhile Group D) 226636 17.54 1,03,901 8.04
the non-reserved personnel shoot up to Total 2,29,105 17.51 1,05,107 8.03
63%, with both ST (6%) and OBC (16%) Source: Annual Reports and Accounts, Ministry of Railways, various years.
Economic & Political Weekly EPW MAY 11, 2019 vol lIV no 19 59NOTES
Figure 9: Caste-wise Representation of Employees (%) Engaged in Public Figure 10: Yearly Household Earnings by Social Groups, 2015–16 (%)
Administration, 2011–12 and 2015–16 0.8 0.8 1.6 3.7
100
6.9 7.1 9.6
40 38.5 16.3
36.9 15.8 15.1
80 20.0
32.2
30.4 18.8 18.2 23.1
30 60 21.6
23.3
28.7 30.9 19.6
20.1 40
20 25.6
21.2
9.3 9.3 20
10 29.0 27.9
21.7 16.1
2011–12 2015–16
0
SC ST OBC Others
0
Above 6 lakh 2,40,001–6,00,000 1,20,001–2,40,000 90,001–1,20,000
SC ST OBC Others
60,001–90,000 up to 60,000
Source: NSSO 61st and 68th unit-level records and Fifth Labour Bureau Employment– Source: Fifth Labour Bureau Employment–Unemployment Surveys.
Unemployment Surveys.
hasty, ill-informed amendment based The fear is that this move, in turn, would share.9 These are ridiculously high fig-
on an upper-caste sentiment that seems set a precedence that would change the ures which make a mockery of both the
to be exaggerated and lacking in terms manner in which the existing reserva- pro-poor argument put forth by the gov-
of concrete empirical evidence. tion policy is understood in the country. ernment as well as the spirit of social
So while the amendment currently does justice that informs the current reserva-
‘Creamy Layer’ not touch the existing reservation poli- tion principle. If the new quota system
In order to identify the poor amongst the cy, it does tend to potentially disrupt the was to follow the `8 lakh per annum
upper caste sections, a proposed cap of same in the long run. For an excellent definition, virtually most families falling
`8 lakh family income cap and a five exposition on the same, see Chatterjee’s under the unreserved status would be
acre land criterion was speculated to be (2019) take on this issue. eligible for reservation, irrespective of
adopted (News18 2019). However, the In bringing forth the amendment in their cultural, social, economic and edu-
Constitutional (124th Amendment) Act, haste in the current session of Parlia- cational backwardness (or otherwise).
2019 did not specify any criteria and ment, the Government of India, unlike This is not to argue that the state does
explains that the phrase “economically in the past has not constituted an inde- not need to look after the interests of
weaker sections” as in the act may be pendent committee or expert group that those outside the 49.5% reservation sys-
notified by the state from time to time would have looked into the rather com- tem. After all, as noted from Figure 10,
on the basis of family income and other plicated question of who constitutes the 16.1% of all “other” households earn
indicators of economic disadvantage.8 poorest of the poor amongst the histori- only up to `60,000 a year, that is, a sum
This has prompted some to speculate cally advantaged groups (rather than go- of only `165 a day for an average family
that the cap may also be extended beyond ing for a creamy layer), let alone any dis- size of roughly 5.5 persons. In fact, 22%
the `8 lakh criterion (Nair 2019). All dis- cussion on the modalities surrounding the of all households that belong to the low-
cussions on the implementation of the type of assistance that these people could est earning group as per this data set be-
act, however, continue to revolve around have been provided for by the state. A long to the non-reserved categories. The
this income figure which has most likely vague and loose definition of what consti- fact of the matter is that the growth tra-
been taken from the current ceiling of tutes the EWS would have led to yardsticks jectory followed by the Indian state has
`8 lakh family income that defines the that are ludicrous to say the least. been such that it has left a fair share of
creamy layer among the OBCs (Economic As per the last Labour Bureau—EUS in persons behind; even those belonging to
Times 2017). 2015–16, 96.3% of all families coming the historically well-off segments. As per
However, this was met with vocifer- under the “Others” category earned less the latest Global Inequality report pro-
ous criticism, the reasons for which are than `6 lakh per annum, that is, more duced by Oxfam, India’s top 10% holds
not too far to see. For one, to base an in- than 7.7 crore families out of the 8.03 77.4% of the total national wealth (ndtv
come criterion on the creamy layer base- crore “Other” households would have 2019). Anand and Thampi (2016) have
line of another, marginalised section, been entitled for a quota which had a shown how there has been a greater con-
tends to delegitimise the entire notion of ceiling of `6 lakh per annum. A `8 lakh centration of wealth with the top 10%,
“historical and social disadvantage.” income criterion would include a higher particularly after 2012. This, compound-
Table 4: Share of SC and ST Personnel, India Post, 2012 and 2017 ed with loss in job creation and crisis in
2017 2012 the agricultural sector, has led to this
SC SC % ST ST% SC SC % ST ST%
growing discontent amongst sections of
Group 'A' 57 9.21 38 6.14 61 10 33 5.41
even the upper castes (Sood 2018). The
Group 'B' (Gazetted) 425 14.42 157 5.33 413 11.14 151 4.07
Group 'B' (Non-gazetted) 943 16.76 377 6.7 369 11.95 187 6.06
government, in order to placate this re-
Group 'C' (excluding MTS) 24,068 16.37 10,893 7.41 29,325 16.95 12,515 7.23 sentment has brought forth this new
MTS 5,566 19.74 2,125 7.54 6,522 21.25 2,298 7.49 amendment, in the process incorrectly
Total 31,059 16.84 13,590 7.37 36,690 17.38 15,184 7.19 positing reservations as an instrument for
Source: Annual Reports, India Post, various issues. poverty alleviation rather than social
60 MAY 11, 2019 vol lIV no 19 EPW Economic & Political WeeklyNOTES
justice. The resentment exhibited by cer- 9 There is the added confusion as to how this reser- International Business Times (2019): “Modi Govern-
vation will be implemented across different states ment’s Pro-poor Move: 10% Quota Approved for
tain sections might be founded on valid having different criterion, income or otherwise. Economically Backward Upper Caste,” https://
grievances but their own prognosis is www.ibtimes.co.in/modi-govts-pro-poor-move-
severely misplaced and the state’s solu- References 10-quota-approved-economically-backward-
upper-caste-789514, viewed on 9 January 2019.
tion, that is, a quota of 10% in an ever de- Abraham, V (2017): “Stagnant Employment Growth: Indian Express (2019): “Reservation Candidates Are
Last Three Years May Have Been the Worst,”
creasing pool of jobs applicable to more Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 52, No 38,
Under-represented in Govt’s Upper Rungs,”
Thursday, 9 May, viewed on 21st January 2018,
than 97% of all non-reserved families pp 13–17. https://indianexpress.com/article/educa
seems to make little or no sense. Univer- Anand, I and A Thampi (2016): “Recent Trends in tion/reservation-candidates-are-under-repre-
Wealth Inequality in India,” Economic & Politi- sented-in-govts-upper-rungs-5540310/
salisation of the public distribution system, cal Weekly, Vol 5, No 50, pp 59–67. Nair, Shalini (2019): “10% Quota for EWS: States
implementation of the Swaminathan Bhalla, S S (2019): “10% for EWS Is a Good Initia- Can Go Past `8 Lakh Annual Income Criteria,”
tive for Poor—And the Best Policy for Mus- Indian Express, 17 January, https://indianex-
Committee recommendations, a compre- lims,” Indian Express, 12 January, https://indi- press.com/article/india/10-percent-quota-for-
hensive study identifying who needs great- anexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/quo- ews-states-can-go-past-rs-8-lakh-annual-in-
ta-bill-10-per-cent-bjp-reservation-economi- come-criteria-5542072/.
er state assistance and most importantly a cally-weaker-sections-5534313/.
NDTV (2019): “Davos 2019: Richest 1% Indians
greater impetus towards employment Chandrasekhar, C P (2019): “The Failed Promise of Hold 51% Wealth: Oxfam Boss Explains Why,”
Employment,” 17 January, https://www.net-
generation appear to be obvious starting workideas.org/news-analysis/2019/01/the-
21 January, YouTube video, https://www.you-
tube.com/watch? v=7SXktQTX88g.
points. Ultimately, to bring these sec- failed-promise-of-employment/.
NITI Aayog (2017): Report of the Task Force on
tions back into the “mainstream,” the Chatterjee, P (2019): “The 10% Reservation Is a Cyn-
Improving Employment Data (Draft Version),
ical Fraud on the Constitution,” Wire, 18 Janu-
mainstream itself needs to be re-imagined. Government of India.
ary, https://thewire.in/government/the-10-res-
ervation-is-a-cynical-fraud-on-the-constitution. News18 (2019): “In Surprise Move before Polls, Cabinet
Approves 10% Reservation for Economically
Notes Damodaran, H (2019): “A Quota for Farmers,”
Weaker Upper Castes,” 8 January, https://www.
Indian Express, 14 January, https://indianexpress.
1 Interestingly, the S R Sinho Commission news18.com/news/india/months-before-polls-
com/article/opinion/columns/a-quota-for -farm-
had identified 13 parameters to defi ne who modi-cabinet-approves-10-reservation-for-eco-
ers-job-education-reservation-ews-5536650/.
would fall under this category—a recommen- nomically-backward-upper-castes-1994275.html.
dation not taken up by this government. See Dangwal, Sandhya (2017): “Jat Agitation: Stir De-
manding OBC Category for Community to Re- Sharma, Nidhi (2019): “Reservation Needs to Be on
Sharma (2019). Socio-economic Criteria: Major General (Retd) S R
sume in 19 Districts of Haryana Today,” 29 Jan-
2 It is interesting that this issue managed to set uary, https://www.india.com/news/india/jat- Sinho,” 11 January, https://economictimes.india-
aside another highly contested debate that was agitation-stir-demanding-obc-category-for-co- times.com/news/politics-and-nation/reservation-
going on in policy circles—on the quantum mmunity-to-resume-in-19-districts-of-harya- needs-to-be-on-socio-economic-criteria-major-
and nature of job creation that had taken place na-today-1791951/. general-retd-sr-sinho/articleshow/67480343.cms.
in the economy during the current regime. The Economic Times (2017): “Creamy Layer Income Cap Shinde, R (2019): “Three Reasons the 10% Quota
two debates, I would argue here, feed into each for OBCs Raised to `8 Lakh per Annum,” 13 Bill Is More Than an Election Gimmick,”
other. In fact, as soon as the government came September, https://economictimes.indiatimes. 11 January, https://thewire.in/caste/upper-caste-
out with plans of a constitutional amendment, com/news/politics-and-nation/creamy-layer- reservation-more-than-election-gimmick.
various leaders of the opposition fired back, income-cap-for-obcs-raised-to-rs-8-lakh-per- Sood, Jyotika (2018): “India’s Deepening Farm Crisis:
stating that through the above the government annum/articleshow/60497593.cms. 76% Farmers Want to Give up Farming, Shows
was merely trying to divert attention away Financial Express (2019): “1 Crore Jobs Lost in 2018: Study,” https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/
from the fact that it has failed to deliver in Unemployment Rate Hits 27-month High in indias-deepening-farm-crisis-76-farmers-
terms of its promise of employment growth. December, Says CMIE; Key Things to Know,” htt- want-to-give-up-farming-shows-study-43728.
The latter, coupled with the massive agrarian ps://www.financialexpress.com/economy/1-cro- Vyas, Mahesh (2019): “Surveying India’s Unemploy-
distress in the past couple of years, it was ar- re-jobs-lost-in-2018-unemployment-rate-hits-27- ment Numbers,” Hindu, 9 February, https://www.
gued, had forced the government to move for month-high-in-december-says-cmie-key-things- thehindu.com/opinion/lead/surveying-indias-
this amendment. to-know/1435748/, viewed on 21 January 2019. unemployment-numbers/article26218615.ece.
3 See the “Report on the Task Force on
Improving Employment Data,” 2017 (NITI N
IO
Aayog 2017). S EPWRF India Time Series
4 A difference between the CPHS and the NSSO
PAN
surveys is the reference period of the employ- EX (www.epwrfits.in)
ment status of a respondent. While the NSSO
tries to capture the status for an entire year
and for a week, the CPHS captures the status as Banking Indicators for 653 Districts
on the day of the survey. This could be as one of
four factors: employed; unemployed willing to District-wise data has been added to the Banking Statistics module of the EPWRF India Time
work and actively looking for a job; unem- Series (ITS) database.
ployed willing to work but not actively looking This sub-module provides data for 653 districts for the following variables:
for a job, and unemployed but neither willing
nor looking for a job. See Vyas (2019). ● Deposit–No. of Accounts and Amount, by Population Group (rural, semi-urban, urban
5 With that of the previous NSSO Employment– and metropolitan)
Unemployment rounds. In this study we have ● Credit (as per Sanction)–Amount Outstanding, by Population Group
used data obtained from the 68th, 61st and
55th NSSO EUSs. ● Credit (as per Utilisation)–No. of Accounts and Amount Outstanding, by sectors
6 Reservations are applicable at the level of as- ● Credit-Deposit (CD) Ratio
sistant professors. This may also include SCs, ● Number of Bank Offices–By Population Group
STs and OBCs who have not availed the bene-
fits of reservation. The data series are available from December 1972; on a half-yearly basis till June 1989 and
7 These figures would also include those who are on an annual basis thereafter. These data have been sourced from Reserve Bank of India’s
employed as casual and certain categories of publication, Basic Statistical Returns (BSR) of Scheduled Commercial Banks in India.
contractual workers for whom reservation
The EPWRF ITS has 18 modules covering a range of macro-economic, financial and social
might not be applicable.
sector indicators on the Indian economy.
8 It was later clarified by Social Justice and
Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot For more details, visit www.epwrfits.in or e-mail to: its@epwrf.in
that no such cap was final.
Economic & Political Weekly EPW MAY 11, 2019 vol lIV no 19 61You can also read
