A RELATIVE STUDY ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN INDIA AND UNITED STATES

Abstract

Democracies all over the world have always responded to the inequalities in the society by enacting legislations and incorporating equality clauses in their Constitutions Countries like India, United States of America and post-apartheid South Africa, among others have responded to such inequalities in a major way. At the outset, it must be mentioned that the enactment of such legislations, and even amendments to respective Constitutions were not an easy task for the proponents of equality. Each of these Countries has therefore, had a tumultuous history in the conceptualizing, developing, and finally legislating basic tenets of equality into the broader structures of their respective Constitutions.

The issue of reservation has remained a cause of disagreement between the reserved and the non- reserved sections of the society. While the unreserved segments, keep on opposing the provision, the neediest sections from within the reserved segments are hardly aware about how to get benefited from the provision or even whether there are such provisions. Reservation is no doubt good, as far as it is a method of appropriate positive discrimination for the benefit of the downtrodden and economically backward Sections of the society but when it tends to harm the society and ensures privileges for some at the cost of others for narrow political ends, as it is in the present form, it should be done away with, as soon possible.

With this background, the present study deals with the issues of philosophical foundations of reservations in the world, particularly US and India. Specifically, it would focus on how the reservation policy is being implemented in US and India. Are these reservation policies or affirmative actions are democratic? If yes, to what extent? How the reservation policies are contributing for building an egalitarian society and helping divergent interests to emerge in the national arena that makes democracy vibrant? These are some of the related issues are discussed in the study.