A commentary on the positive discrimination policy of India

Authors

  • Tameshnie Deane University of South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2009/v12i1a2719

Abstract

Affirmative action and discriminatory measures are complex and controversial issues. The goal of affirmative action is to speed up the creation of a representative and equitable workforce and to assist those who were historically disadvantaged by unfair discrimination to fulfil their maximum potential. The term invokes emotions that range from fear and rage to satisfaction. Affirmative action has encouraged an ongoing debate regarding the legal, moral and economic questions arising from the preferential treatment of certain groups of people in society. Underlying this debate are various concerns about the notion of reverse discrimination or the unfair disadvantage to individuals who bear no responsibility for past or present discrimination practised by others. This article states the current position with regard to the caste system and the reservation of jobs in the Republic of India in the context of affirmative action and the achievement of equality in the workplace. Its purpose is to highlight the extreme division of opinion about what is socially acceptable, namely, caste. Further, it provides the reader with an understanding of the need for affirmative action in the first place in India, and thereby creates a powerful tool for understanding discrimination and the need for affirmative action measures. Another goal is to provide useful guidelines and information to all persons involved in implementing affirmative action programmes. It serves to show that if affirmative action measures and/or discriminatory measures are not properly thought out then affirmative action becomes burdensome and even more discriminatory, rather than being a means of achieving equality and redressing past wrongs.

    

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Bibliography

Anand Equality

Anand CL Equality Justice and Reverse Discrimination (Mittal Publications Dheli 1987)

Andrews 1992 SAIPA

Andrews Y "Affirmative Action: A Suspected Equaliser?" 1992 (27) SAIPA: Journal of Public Administration 34-43

Bhandari Basic Structure

Bhandari MK Basic Structure of the Indian Constitution: A critical reconsideration (Deep & Deep New Delhi 1993)

Brounaugh "Authority, Equality, Adjudication, Privacy"

Brounaugh R (ed) "Authority, Equality, Adjudication, Privacy" in Philosophical Law Volume II (Greenwood Press London 1978)

Buhler "The Sacred Laws of the Aryans"

Buhler G "The Sacred Laws of the Aryans as taught in the Schools of

Apastamba, Gautama, Vasishta and Baudhayana" in Müller M (ed) The Sacred Books of the East Volume II (Müller 1879)

Buhler "Manu"

Buhler G "Manu: The Laws of Manu" in Sacred Books of the East Volume

(translated) (Dover New York 1969)

CERD Reports of India Concluding Observations of Caste 17 September 1996

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Reports of India —

Concluding Observations of Caste 17 September 1996 HRW

CERD/C/304/Add13 (September 1996) E/CN,4/Sub2/2001/16

Cunningham 1997 Mich LR

Cunningham CD "Race, Class Caste? Rethinking Affirmative Action"1997

(1) Michigan Law Review 1296-1310

Doniger Laws of Manu

Doniger W (translated by Smith KB) The Laws of Manu (Penguin Books London 1991)

Fischer 1996 People Dynamics

Fischer S "Affirming Equal Opportunities For White Males" 1996 (14) People Dynamics 30-34

Galanter Competing Inequalities

Galanter M Competing Inequalities: Law and the Backward Classes In India (University of California Press California 1984)

Ghurye Features of the Caste System

Ghurye GS Features of the Caste System in Caste and Race in India

(Popular Prakashan Bombay 1969)

Ginsburg 2000 Brookings Review

Ginsburg RB "Affirmative Action as an International Human Rights Dialogue" 2000 (18) Brookings Review 3

Hodges We Want Jobs

Hodges G (ed) We Want Jobs: A History of Affirmative Action (Garland New York 1997)

Kroeber "Caste"

Kroeber AL "Caste" in Seligman ERA (ed) Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences Volume 3 (Macmillan New York 1930)

Lamb India: World in Transition

Lamb B India: World in Transition (Praeger New York 1970)

Mitchell 1993 Productivity SA

Mitchell G "Much Affirmative Talk (and little action)" 1993 (19) Productivity SA 28-30

Ryan and Evans 1984 The Commonwealth Government Canberra

Ryan S and Evans G "Affirmative Action for Women" 1984 (1) The

Commonwealth Government Canberra 15-16

Sachs A "Affirmative Action"

Sachs A "Affirmative Action and Good Government: A fresh look at constitutional mechanisms for re-distribution in South Africa" Alistair

Berkeley Memorial Lecture 14-15 November 1991 (Cape Town 1992)

Searle-Chatterjee and Sharma Contextualising Caste

Searle-Chatterjee M and Sharma U (eds) Contextualising Caste: Post Dumontian Approaches (Blackwell Oxford 1994)

Seenarine "Dalit Women"

Seenarine M "Dalit Women: Victims or Beneficiaries of Affirmative Action Policies in India: A Case Study" (Paper presented at a brown bag lecture held at the Southern Asian Institute, Columbia University 10 April 1996)

Sharma and Reddy Reservation Policy in India

Sharma BAV and Reddy KM (eds) Reservation Policy in India (Light and Life New Delhi 1982)

Singh Affirmative Action Programme

Singh A Affirmative Action Programme: A Comparative Study of India and

USA (2002-2003) LLM paper European Academy of Legal Theory Brussels

Tummala 1999 Public Administration Review

Tummala K "Policy of Preference: Lessons from India, the United States and South Africa" 1999 (59) Public Administration Review 495-508

Turner Past and Future

Turner R The Past and Future of Affirmative Action — A Guide and

Analysis for Human Resource Professionals and Corporate Counsel

(Quorum Books New York 1990)

White Paper GN 564 in GG 18800 of 23 April 1998

White Paper Affirmative Action in the Public Service Department of Public

Service and Administration (23 March 1998) GN 564 in GG 18800 of 23 April 1998

Register of legislation

Constitution of India 1950

Criminal Tribes Act 1924

Protection of Civil Rights Act 1995

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989

Register of cases

Amlendu Kumar v State (1980) AIR 1 (Pat)

Devadasen v Union of India (1964) AIR 179 (SC)

Indra Sawhney v Union of India (1993) AIR 477 (SC)

Kumar v State (1969) AIR 182 (Raj)

MR Balaji v State of Mysore (1963) AIR 645 (SC)

Padmaraj Samendra v State (1979) AIR 266 (Pat)

Ramachandra v State of Madhya Pradesh (1961) AIR 247 (Madh Pra)

Savitri v KK Bose (1971) AIR 1974 (HP)

Sukhnandan Thakur v State of Bihar (1957) AIR 617 (Pat)

University of California Regents v Allen Bakke (1978) 438 US 265

Register of Internet sources

Aharon 2005 adaniel.tripod.com/modernindia.htm

Aharon D 2005 Information on India: Caste System in Modern India adaniel.tripod.com/modernindia.htm [date of use 18 May 2008].

Volokh 1996 volokh.com/sasha/quotas.html

Volokh A 'Quotas in India have yet to create Harmony' Los Angeles Daily

Journal 5 November 1996 volokh.com/sasha/quotas.html [date of use 21 Feb 2009]

Published

26-06-2017

How to Cite

Deane, T. (2017). A commentary on the positive discrimination policy of India. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 12(1), 27–52. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2009/v12i1a2719

Issue

Section

Articles