MoC: Reservation /on the wall
| << Pamphlets showcasing the student-led debates surrounding the implementation of affirmative action provisions for Other Backward Classes in Indian universities. This specific selection engages with the implementation of Mandal (I & II) recommendations as well as the reforming of the Jawaharlal Nerhu University admission policy. This material is exhibited on a wall panel as part of the Memories of Change exhibition. |
The term reservations points to a system of positive discrimination formulated in pre-independent India, subsequently acquiring constitutional status. It slowly brought into the universities small cohorts of first-generation learners from Dalit and tribal communities, training Dalit leaders, while triggering entrenched debates on how to end caste-divisions in campuses. The politicisation of caste identities took a new turn when in 1990, the application of Mandal commission introduced an additional 27 per cent national-level quota for so-called Other Backward Classes (OBC), triggering furious reaction from upper castes, both that year and again in 2006, when the provision was introduced in higher education. Ranging from students’ self-immolation to legal action, the polarisation it introduced cuts across traditional partisan divides. It brought into campus spaces anti-Mandal political agitations, as well as fierce debates on the extent to which the reservations for various communities were actually enforced for student admission and faculty recruitment. Equally acrimonious were the debates about the sincerity of the student organisations’ sudden pro-Mandal stands. Driven by a suspicion of their socialist, Marxist, Dalit and Hindu nationalist leanings, much accusation was levied on them by independent OBC groups who charged them of opportunely jumping on the bandwagon. Such debates are also tied to the drafting and implementation of additional provisions for the deprived sections at university level.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ brochure advocating for the restoration of an earlier admission policy allocating more reservation provisions than the then existing guidelines. 1993.
Resignation letter of a Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union member in the aftermath of the Students’ Council decision to reject Mandal Commission’s recommendations. 1990.
Social background of Jawaharlal Nehru University students. 1990.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Council rejecting the implementation of Mandal Commission’s recommendations, opposing the will of the elected Students’ Union. 1990.
All India Bahujan Student’s Parliament accusing a left student organisation of not ‘sincerely’ supporting Other Backward Classes reservations. Jawaharlal Nehru University. 2014.
Bahujan Students’ Front pamphlets comparing the job status of Dalits to the rest of the population. Jawaharlal Nehru University. 1990.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad pamphlet favouring the implementation of admission quotas for so-called Other Backward Classes (including in minority institutions), but simultaneously rejecting the integration of Muslim and Christian minorities in reserved categories. Jawaharlal Nehru University. 2006.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union brochure proposing additional reservation provisions for deprived sections of students seeking admission in the university. 1998.
Youth for Equality pamphlet, arguing for the non-implementation of admission quotas for so-called Other Backward Classes in public universities. Jawaharlal Nehru University. 2006.