For over three quarters of a century, India’s elites managed to maintain a stranglehold over the bureaucracy. Very few from the disadvantaged segments of the 1.40 billion population could get into positions of power, other than in politics, where selfish men rule the roost. They have no sense of commitment to the causes of the underlings. By contrast, the orders by Chief Justice of India, Justice BR Gavai, to grant reservations in staff recruitments in the apex court to SCs, STs, BCs, physically challenged persons, ex-Jawans etc is seen as a landmark reform. Appointed to the post in May, his term will last no more than five months. Yet, he took upon himself the task of ensuring inclusiveness in the highest court.
Notably, Gavai happens to be the second Dalit, out of 51 Chief Justices that served the country since Independence; the former being Justice K Balakrishnan, who too had a short stint. The Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes have been given reservations in government jobs from the very start, thanks to insistence from BR Ambedkar, while BCs were entitled to this after implementation of the Mandal Commission report some 35 years ago. Yet, in a principal establishment like the Supreme Court, its implementation was delayed for so long. Indian society is deeply divided on the basis of religion, caste and much else. Elite segments appropriate much of the governmental benefits including jobs, partly by virtue of their educational advancement and partly through the stranglehold they maintain on the governance system. This is true not only of government jobs but also of those in principal establishments like the judiciary, the universities etc. Reservations ensured small segments of the disadvantaged groups to get into the administrative systems. In politics, however, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who himself hails from a disadvantaged social segment, runs the nation and another such in the form of Droupadi Murmu heads the nation as its President. The power to govern, which was once the privilege of Brahmins and previously the Kshatriyas in the form of kings, is today open to all. The same spirit however did not percolate down. Gross discriminations continue in the administrative mechanisms.
In a democracy, ensuring justice to one and all should be the prime objective of a governance system. In India, however, this has not been the case. Vested interests hold sway over the system by virtue of their social strengths. The fact that the tribal communities in India, or the Dalits for that matter, failed to significantly progress in the nearly 80 years of self-rule, is a shame on democracy itself. Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed only marginal interest in such matters also as his hands are tied by the RSS ideology. While Modi dropped reforms like a hot potato, Justice Gavai, with his Ambedkarite credentials, took it a step forward with abundant courage. The affirmative action by CJI Gavai may have far-reaching effects, unless a future CJI seeks to stall the process.
