‘Stark disparity’ in share of two categories of scheduled castes in govt jobs, shows data

Thirty-six scheduled castes (SCs) from Haryana, including Balmikis, Dhanaks, Khatiks, Mazhabi Sikhs who have been provided reservation in government employment, occupy a mere 35% share of class 1, 2 and 3 jobs reserved for SCs despite comprising a majority 52% of the total scheduled caste population in the state.

In contrast, Chamars and related scheduled castes like Mochi, Jatav, Rahgars, Raigars, Ramdasias, Ravidasias with less than 50% share in the SC population of the state occupy 65% of the class 1, 2 and 3 posts reserved for the SCs. “This shows the stark difference of 30 percentage points in posts occupied by the deprived SCs (36) and the other SCs,’’ reads the findings of an analysis done by the Haryana State Commission for Scheduled Castes.

The data analysis was done to ascertain the inadequacy of representation of scheduled castes in public employment because of their backwardness for the purpose of doing subclassification as ordered by the Supreme Court on August 1. The Council of Ministers had recently made a reference to the Commission to study the data pertaining to the scheduled castes in the state and make recommendations to facilitate sub classification of SCs. The move was in line with the seven-judge constitution bench judgement of the Supreme Court allowing subclassification of scheduled castes by the state governments. The apex court had held that the state can sub-classify, inter alia, based on inadequate representation of certain castes.

However, the apex court said the state must establish that the inadequacy of representation of a caste/group is because of its backwardness and must collect data on the inadequacy of representation in the services of the state because it is used as an indicator of backwardness. “The state will have to justify the same on the basis of empirical data that a sub-class in whose favour such more beneficial treatment is provided is not adequately represented,’’ the apex court said. The Council of Ministers last week accepted the recommendations of the State Commission for Scheduled Castes but stopped short of implementing them owing to enforcement of poll code.

‘Deprived scheduled castes significantly under represented’

The Commission said that classification of scheduled castes as deprived scheduled castes (DSC) underlined their significant underrepresentation in Haryana’s services sector, a direct consequence of their social, educational and occupational backwardness.

“Despite constituting about 11% of the state’s total population and 50% of the SC population, the members of deprived SCs account for only 4.7%, 4.14% and 6.27% of group A, B and C or class 1, 2 and 3 government jobs, respectively,’’ the report said.

The Commission found even within all the government sector jobs reserved for SCs in Haryana including class 4 or group D, there was a stark under-representation (39.7% share in all SC jobs) of the deprived scheduled castes accounting for 31.57%, 27.29% and 36.14% of group A, B, C jobs, respectively. However, their share in Group D jobs was 56.9%. “This stark contrast is further amplified when compared to other scheduled castes, who enjoy proportional representation in these job categories. This disparity as understood by the Commission is rooted in the complex socio-political and economic background and the low educational attainment within DSC.

‘Concentration of deprived SCs in group D jobs highlight occupational deprivation’

The Commission said the concentration of deprived SCs in group D jobs highlighted their occupational deprivation owing to reasons such as the history of concentration of Balmiki caste in manual scavenging, making them unable to compete with other scheduled castes for better opportunities. “This inadequacy of representation in group A, B, C jobs underscored the systemic deprivation faced by deprived SCs, necessitating targeted interventions to ensure equitable distribution of opportunities and uplift of this marginalised and deprived sub-classification of SCs,’’ the Commission said.

‘About 49,000 SC employed in government jobs’

The Commission which perused the data obtained from Haryana Parivar Pehchan Authority (HPPA) said there were 64.39 lakh scheduled castes in Haryana, accounting for 22% of state’s population. The deprived SCs have a population of 33.75 lakh while the other SCs have a population of 30.64 lakh. As per data sourced from HPPA, 49,153 scheduled caste persons were employed across four job groups with 63% of them employed in group C jobs, 23% in group D jobs, 12% in group B jobs and 2% in group A jobs.

“Distribution of employment among the SCs show that a majority of 60.3% of the total SC employees belonged to the other scheduled castes comprising castes — Chamar, Ramdasia, Jatav and Mochi. Of the remaining who are the deprived scheduled castes, the Balmikis and related castes make up about 16% of the overall employees. Other prominent castes among deprived scheduled castes included Dhanak (10%), Odh (2.2%), Baazigar (1.31%), Mazhabi and Mazhabi Sikh (0.74%),” the report said.