The Other Backward Classes constitute 35% of the total population of Punjab, while the Dalits form another 25%. Christians who are included amongst the OBCs separately account for yet another 5% of the total population.
The OBCs and Dalits are in vast majority in three districts of Punjab-Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Ropar; their population being 55% and 30% respectively.
Agriculture, services and trade were the main sources of livelihood of the people But the OBCs and Dalits had no access to these sources of livelihood. They were not allowed to purchase agricultural land, nor did they get any place in the services. Lack of finances and the evil of untouchability did not allow them to enter trade.
Now, even after the ‘independence’ and spread of education, the OBCs and Dalits are looked down in villages and towns and have been reduced to third class citizens. They are not associated with administration even at the lowest level. They are servants of the agriculturists and are known as Seerees. Their social status is that of animals. Their women folk and children do menial labour for their landlords. They are also not allowed to participate in social and religious ceremonies along with the higher castes and are required to do odd jobs like cleaning of utensils and sweeping floors.
Even in this age of enlightenment, civil liberties are a dream for them. They have no freedom to exercise their right of franchise freely. Through economic exploitation, harassment and coercion, they are more often forced to vote against their will in elections.
Both the major religions in the State – Sikhism and Hinduism – are the monopoly of the higher castes. No representation is given to the OBCs and Dalits in the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee or in the Gurdwara committees at the lower level. The same is true about the Hindu places of worship. The Mazhabi and Ravidasi Sikhs built their own Gurdwaras for worship as they were not allowed to enter the Hindu temples and Sikh Gurdwaras. Twenty-five per cent of seats in all government offices and public undertakings in Punjab are reserved for the Dalits. The category wise reservations for them are: Class 1- 7%; Class II- 7% ; and Class III- 13%, besides all posts of sweepers in Class IV services.
In the present scheme of reservations all the posts are cornered by those who are better off amongst them. As a result a great deal of dissatisfaction prevails amongst the Dalits who are poorer as compared to others belonging to the SC/STs. It is an irony that the OBCs, who constitute 35% of the total population in the State have been allotted only 5% reservation in the government services. Their quota of reservation in promotion is just 2%. Originally, four communities of the OBCs Nai, Kumbhar, Dhobi and Jhiwar – had been given 2% reservation in the government services in 1937. This was withdrawn by the government wide a notification dated March 17, 1954. The reservation of 2% in government services granted in 1937 for the four castes of OBCs continued to be the same for the 67 castes in the state till June 5, 1974, when it was raised to 5%. To add fuel to the fire it was ordered on April 20, 1963 that all residents of Punjab state, who were economically backward would be entitled to all concessions available to the OBCs, irrespective of their castes. Thus, the OBCs were robbed of the meagre concessions they were getting earlier. The lion’s share in the meagre concessions was grabbed by the well-to-do sections. To make the position worst, a ceiling of an annual income of Rs. 3.600 was imposed for becoming eligible for the concessions. The plight of the OBCs in the State, therefore, continues to be miserable even today. Instructions of the Govt. are that reservation should be given after selection in the open competitions, but in actual practice only five persons per 100 are selected and given appointments. The policy of reservation has been put in reverse gear due to faulty implementation. There are four universities in the state but only the Guru Nanak University has made reservation for the OBCs up to the post of deputy superintendent. There are two state-owned corporations – the Punjab Roadways and the Punjab Road Transport Corporation. But neither of them has made any reservation for OBCs. Most of the institutions like co-operatives, municipal committees and boards have not made any reservations for the OBCs. In some cases reservations are only on the paper. As against this, the State Govt, has given 20% reservation to ex-military men, which is wholly unjustified. Ex-servicemen constitute hardly 1% of the total population in the state and the 20% reservation for them is against all the canons of justice and fair play. Most of the ex-servicemen are from higher castes.
Unfortunately, the quota under this category has never been utilized more than 5%. Yet, no government in the State has ever tried to curtail this unjustified quota and enhance the quota of the OBCs. There is no reservation of seats in State Assembly and Parliament for the OBCs, as in the case of SC/STs. As a result 50% of the State population remains unrepresented in the State Legislature and Parliament. There are 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, out of which three are reserved for SC/STs and the remaining go to the higher castes. All the seven Rajya Sabha seats from Punjab are meant for the higher castes. The Punjab Vidhan Sabha consists of 117 elected members, out of which 27 seats are reserved for the SC/STs. Out of the remaining 90 seats, 79 are meant exclusively for the higher castes. As regards the remaining 11 seats, which are held by the members of the OBCs, their party wise break-up is thus: Congress (I) eight, Akali- two and Communist Party of India – one. It can, therefore, be seen that in a House of 117, the OBCs have only 11 representatives of their own. Educational facilities are extremely inadequate for the children of Dalits and OBCs. The public schools in the state are the exclusive domain of the children belonging to the higher castes or some rich families of SC/STs and OBCs. Most of the children of Dalits and OBCs study either in government schools or private schools, where the standard of education is much low. Unless at least 50% of seats in the public schools reserved for the children belonging to the OBCs, they cannot compete with the children of higher castes in different walks of life.
(Buniyadi Sangersh, April 1983).
