Govt's economic reservation a huge blow for Dalit-backward communities

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government's decision to introduce a 10 per cent financial reservation on government appointments and school admissions for the economically backward sections among the forward communities is turning out to be a huge blow for the Dalit and backward communities in the general sector.

Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes currently have 50 percent reservation. The government claims that this will not be reduced and that 10 per cent of the 50 per cent open quota (general category) will be set aside for financial reservation. At first glance, it may seem that this is true. However, deception is hidden in the government's procedures in implementing the economic reservation.

According to the government, 10 percent reservation for the economically backward sections will be set aside from the 50 per cent open quota. If there are 100 vacancies in total, 50 will be for community reservation. Out of the remaining 50 vacancies, 10 percent, i.e 5 vacancies, will be set aside for the economically backward sections. However, contrary to the government’s announcement, 10 percent of the total 100 vacancies will be reserved for the economically backward sections. As a result, ten out of every 100 appointments (twice as much as reserved) will go to the reservation for forward communities. Due to the government-official level compromises, this category will effectively get 20 per cent reserved seats.