Non-discrimination and Equality in India

Verma, Vidhu

doi:10.4324/9780203149669

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…With Ambedkar, these historical practices produced a situation for which both civil society and the state were accountable, which must be equally engaged in a policy of redress or compensation for wrongs suffered. As a result, the Indian Constitution took shape in a context where equality of opportunity was built into it as a foundational moral ideal, and reservations for the SCs and STs were approved (Verma, 2012).…”

Section: A Tangled Legal Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

Taking the EWS Quota Seriously: Is It Fair and Just?

Verma

2023

Social Change

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The Supreme Court’s recent judgment upholding the economically weaker sections (EWS) quota has given rise to the idea that reservations can be provided to economically vulnerable sections of the people. This expansion in the beneficiaries of affirmative action has triggered the perception that the reservation policy, which was earlier seen as promoting the principle of equal opportunity and providing compensation to historically marginalised castes, is now also a tool to overthrow poverty, unemployment and economic deprivation. This essay addresses this rebuttal by the court and clarifies that in the context of India, the implementation of reservation policies was based on the premise that the abolition of untouchability was not sufficient to secure equality of opportunity and the battle for social equality will remain as long as we are struggling to deal with caste discrimination. This essay explains why the EWS quota is likely to be a poor tool for achieving economic equality or redressing social discrimination.

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Section: A Tangled Legal Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

Taking the EWS Quota Seriously: Is It Fair and Just?

Verma

2023

Social Change

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“…Drawing on the Women Reservation Bill debate, the claim for sub-quotas then becomes a part of the separate assertion by Dalit women organisations as proposing one more standpoint but within such a framework of difference issues of caste become the sole responsibility of the Dalit women’s organisations. Thus it is imperative for politics that ‘difference’ be historically located in the real struggles of marginalised groups (Verma, 2011).…”

Section: Going Beyond a Politics Of Difference: Four Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two key grounds on which the Bill has been criticised are: the rotation clause that provides for reserving a seat for women only once in a block of three general elections; and the absence of any reservation provision for OBC women and women belonging to minority, particularly religious minority groups. The demand for sub quota for OBC and Muslim is not within the original mandate of the constitution, thus it needs to be accompanied with demand for constitutional modification in this regard (Verma, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Crisis of Representation: Interests, Identities and Politics

Verma

2019

Journal of Social Inclusion Studies

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The controversy over political representation of marginalised groups and the implementation of quotas or reservations for historical injustice constitutes the most salient current battlefront in the conflict over the politics of social justice. Debates about the assumptions of theories of political representation tend to focus on political institutions, and for the most part, tend to debate them within nation-states. I begin by examining the debate on group representation in the Indian context. This article suggests that there is much to be gained in understanding how representation is challenged by following the politics of disadvantaged groups involved in this debate. To overcome the limitations in these theories we need to challenge the basic categories in thinking about political representation, that is about formation of interests, participation, sites of politics, and assertions of claims for representation. The second section focuses on formation of Dalit interests and the arguments for political representation. It examines the way representations of social divisions become problematic and resisted in institutionalized practices and political discourses. The third section point to limitations in our current thinking about theories of representation and the challenges they face. I argue that differences and disagreements within marginalised groups and the potential for intra-group conflicts of interests is challenging. Since shared membership of a disadvantaged group is not sufficient to have success in political representation, we argue that group justice depends in part on the ability to overcome differences and to forge a common political strategy. I argue that representations are eventually battles for meaning in politics through which social identities are constructed in ways that support or contest systems of inclusion and exclusion.

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Inequities in Health in India and Dalit and Adivasi Populations

Subramaniam

2017

Health Inequities in India

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Non-discrimination and Equality in India

Cited by 4 publications

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Taking the EWS Quota Seriously: Is It Fair and Just?

Taking the EWS Quota Seriously: Is It Fair and Just?

A Crisis of Representation: Interests, Identities and Politics

Inequities in Health in India and Dalit and Adivasi Populations

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