Affirmative Action

CONTEXT :

Union Minister for Labour and Employment, and for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav while launching out a ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ in Gurgaon, hinted that Reservation is an affirmative action of this government and we are committed to make an inclusive society with affirmative actions.

FOR PRELIMS :

• Affirmative action, also known as “positive discrimination,” is a government policy that is designed to help minorities and disadvantaged groups in finding employment, getting admissions at universities, and obtaining housing. The policy was originally created to offer disadvantaged groups a boost and increase diversity in communities, the workplace, and learning institutions.
• The policy was introduced in one of John F. Kennedy’s presidential executive orders in 1961 and stated that applicants and employees must be treated fairly regardless of their race, color, or national origin.
• By 1967, the list included gender and religion, and the policy aimed to promote anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for people who were previously oppressed, exploited, and exposed to discrimination.
• The idea of the policy is for employers and educational institutes to take affirmative action and cease any sort of racial, religion-based, or gender-based discrimination in relation to making admission and employment decisions. However, the policy comes into a controversial spotlight when disadvantaged groups are given preferential treatment.

Advantages

• Climbing the socioeconomic ladder
• Boosting the education of disadvantaged students
• Promoting education and work on a communal level

Disadvantages

• Reverse discrimination

• Reverse discrimination is the notion that instead of promoting anti-discrimination, affirmative action leads to discrimination against individuals and groups that come from non-disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Talented individuals may not be given equal opportunities simply because they are not part of a minority group. It may also result in hatred between majority and minority groups.

• Lack of meritocracy

• Meritocracy is an important system that aims to push more capable individuals to places of higher education so that they may have the resources and knowledge required to make important changes in the world. By encouraging universities to admit more students of a particular race, nationality, or gender, affirmative action may be discouraging meritocracy in educational institutions.

• Demeaning true achievement

• Achievements by individuals from minority groups and other disadvantaged groups may be considered a result of affirmative action rather than their own hard work, which can be demeaning to their true level of effort and confidence in their abilities.

By the Constitution

• Government have the competence to grant reservation benefits to SCs and STs in terms of Articles 15(4) and 16(4), and Articles 341(1) and 342(1).

• Article 16 (4) provides that the State can make any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts and in matters of promotion in favour of any backward class of citizens who, in the opinion of the state, are not adequately represented in the services under the State.
• Article 15(4) empowers the state to create special arrangements for promoting the interests and welfare of socially and educationally backward classes of the society such as SC and STs.

Sources

• The Indian Express
• The Hindu
• BBC