Analysis

Social Cost/Benefit Analysis

Currently in India, the policy of the reservation system is an important policy to the growth of the country, but to fully appreciate the growth that it has provided, there has to be an examination of the effects the policy has from a sociological view. The social conflict paradigm, the social theory stating that “society is an arena where inequality generates conflict and change,” is very relevant to the issue of the reservation system in India. The reservation system is creating a social divide in India because it is highlighting the gender and social class of the citizens of India.  “Over one-sixth of India's population, some 170 million people, lives a precarious existence, shunned by much of Indian society because of their rank as “untouchables” or Dalits—literally meaning “broken” people—at the bottom of India's caste system.  Dalits are discriminated against, denied access to land and basic resources, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of police and dominant-caste groups that enjoy the state's protection”.  “In India, discrimination based on caste is a reality.  The bias on the basis of caste has a huge influence on Indian society with its pangs not leavening even the education system”.  This policy is for helping the lower castes of India try to become more stable and gain jobs and an education to help in the future. This is related to the amount of wealth the caste receives, because the people of the castes that are receiving the seats at the schools are ones that are part of the current list of scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, or other backwards castes. Thus, the people of the upper castes are growing more and more opposed to the seats at colleges being taken by people that aren’t receiving higher scores than them. Also, there is bias, which causes social inequality within the schools where the children of lower castes are receiving their education from.  It has proven that, “teachers are observed to have low expectations of SC/ST children and girls and generally have a condescending and downright abusive attitude to poor children from slums”.  Therefore, this policy is creating inequality in the society through the social conflict paradigm.

However, if you look under the structural/functional paradigm, which states that society is made up of multiple parts that cooperate with each other, you can also look at the dysfunctional side of the argument.  There is a function in the government that the government is supposed to protect, and uphold rights for every citizen, and in this case that education should be provided to everyone.  There is a dysfunction the government, because although the government is trying to equally provide education for everyone, the OBCs, STs, and SCs are the ones that receive majority of the seats in colleges, and majority of the seats in the work force also. Currently in India, “15 percent and 7.5 percent seats are reserved for SCs and STs respectively in college admissions. No tuition fee is charged from scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students up to class XII”.  Also, the education social institution is supposed to provide the people to skills such as needing to get along in society; it is doing the opposite and creating a bigger and wider rift between the castes in India, making the caste system more prominent in India.

There is also the positive social side to this argument, that include that more religion is being represented in the education system because of this policy, thus it is teaching the students how to compromise and work with other religions, which will in the future not create a rift between the different castes, which is one of the functions of the education social institution. “In India, the issue of Muslim quotas has bubbled to the surface in the recent election in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the winner, the regional Samajwadi Party, has promised to carve out a quota of jobs and educational slots for Muslims, an idea first raised by the Indian National Congress Party”.  Also this policy is creating an equal opportunity for everyone, so it will help promote the opposite of what the social conflict paradigm is stating, that there will be a social division because of the inequality between social classes, because the lower castes will be gaining social status, and thus create a less of a divide between the classes, and lower the social conflict between them that is currently in state.  Also, the people that the reservation system is targeting have been victims of the caste system in the past, thus they should be given some compensation for being labeled as lowly person in the past.  Thus, this policy creates a better social atmosphere in India, although there is much information stating that the reservation policy is a negative aspect socially for India.

Economic Cost/Benefit Analysis

 To also examine the reservation policy further, there has to be an examination from the economic perspective also.  The reservation system issue is trying to address scarcity issues in India; however it is in fact doing the opposite and adding more to scarcity.  Currently, in India, the jobs and the seats at the schools that the government is providing to STs, SCs, and OBCs are scarce.  Because of this some people from privileged families, who have earned their spots in colleges with very good scores, have been snatched of the opportunity to join certain colleges because the quotas were all filled up, and because they couldn’t offer any more seats to the people who were not part of the quotas.  “Many of the Dalits, the low-caste Hindus once known as untouchables, have gotten government jobs, or slots in public universities, opportunities that have meant stable salaries and nicer homes”.  However, if you look on the other hand too, people from the lower castes, would never be considered in going to some of the schools that they are now given the opportunity to go to, because of financial reasons, the colleges wouldn’t have even glanced at them before, but now they have no choice but to give them seats at their school.  This is a scarcity issue, because there are only a certain number of seats per school, and India’s population is growing, thus there are more children than seats in colleges, thus there is an ongoing problem with who will be receiving what seat in a college, or what government job.

The factors of production that go into the reservation system public policy are tax money, schools, teachers, and education.  The government has a set income that they spend on the policy to help preserve the policy and to keep the policy intact.  The government has a certain number of colleges and seats reserved at those colleges, and also government jobs, in order for this policy to work in the government’s favor.  “In the years 2002-2007, the government will spend over Rs. 43820 in providing the lower castes with advantages to help them”.  There is an opportunity cost factored in with these factors of production because the government could be putting the money that it receives to help in other aspects of the poverty rates in India, instead of tackling the issue of the STs, SCs, and OBCs not getting an education. The government could have put the money into trying to bring the STs, SC, and OBCs out of poverty and their low economic status in order to help future children in those tribes and castes, but instead they are pushing them back into the caste system. 

The demand for this policy has increased since the policy had started when the new government was becoming to rule, and the policy was set in place.  In the past, it was considered taboo and horrible to be placed as a scheduled tribe, scheduled caste, or other backward caste.  It meant that you could not get a job by yourself or an education without the help of the government; however nowadays people are trying to get the status of a ST, SC, or OBC because of the benefits that come from being part of one of the castes or tribes.  “The recognition of caste as an instrument of socio-political change by the Mandal Commission and caste-centric socio-political movements of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Dalit and Backward Class movements, have not only enlivened new debates in India, but have reinforced a caste-centric public-political life, giving it a modern value and a secular purpose”.  Because of this the demand for the reservation system has increased, however the supply hasn’t increased that much since the beginning of the policy.  The policy has only been changed three times, in order to increase the supply of the quotas to more OBCs, STs, and SCs.  The government has made a list of rules that state what it should be required of your tribe or caste if they wanted to be considered as a ST, SC, or OBC, thus not everyone is receiving the benefits of the reservation system yet.

There is a market failure in the reservation system, being that the need and price is too high without the government’s interference, making it a public good.  The price of getting an education to receive a government job, or a seat in a college is quite high, thus the government had to step in to lower the playing field between the different classes.  If the government didn’t step in, only the rich and the upper castes would be the ones to get an education, thus they would be the ones running the country, and they lower castes wouldn’t have any say in how the country was being run, because they wouldn’t be educated to help them in getting a job or helping in running the country.  Thus the government has to provide the public good of the quota system in India, and that they had to provide education and jobs for the lower castes too.

This policy is currently being funded by the government through the use of taxes.  Because the government is being provided the taxes from the businesses and households, in retaliation they are being provided jobs and the education required for these jobs. Households receive jobs and college seats, because of the reservation system.  Businesses are then provided with these people to help them out by inventing new things and working for them to make new products, which are then sold back to the households for money, thus completing the circular flow.  Government spending would be the spending helping to reinforce the rules of the quota system, and also the spending to help compensate for the money the schools are losing because of the quota system.