The resolution was adopted by the 24th Party Congress of CPI(M)
The 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) reiterates that the marginalised sections of society – Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) – continue to face social discrimination and exclusion. Economic exclusion and discrimination are at the core of the caste system, and an important outcome of social organisation based on castes. Restrictions and exclusion are faced by persons belonging to these castes in various economic domains including in ownership of land and property and in the ability to enter into various occupations. Exclusion in access to various services, including education, contributes to their economic exclusion in a major way.
Reservations in jobs has emerged as the most important policy instrument against widespread economic exclusion of, and discrimination against these castes and tribes. Articles 15(4), 16(4), 46 and 335 of the Constitution provide the basis for reservations of jobs for SCs, STs and OBCs. However, these provisions have been used for reservations only in government jobs.
Historically, reservations even in government jobs have been marred by poor implementation. A large number of reserved posts remain vacant. In 2023, over 10 lakh central government posts were vacant. A vast majority of these are reserved posts. A large number of reserved posts also remain vacant in public sector enterprises and in state government posts.
Under the neoliberal economic regime, there has been a sharp contraction of public sector employment that is covered by reservation policies.
In the 1990s, about 2 crore persons were employed in all government jobs (including central government, state government, quasi government and local bodies). By 2012, this had fallen to 1.7 crores. In other words, there was a reduction of about 30 lakh government jobs during that period. The fall has been even more steep since the Modi government came to power.
However, the Modi government has stopped publication of comprehensive data on government employment. But a steep fall in employment is seen in different types of government employment. Total employment in public sector banks has fallen from over 10 lakh in the mid-1990s to just 7.5 lakh in 2024. The total number of employees in Central Public Sector Enterprises has fallen by over 4.5 lakh – a fall of 35 per cent – since 2014. Since 2014, the number of employees has fallen by about 80,000 in Railways and by about 40,000 in Department of Posts, and by about 90,000 in public sector banks.
The loss of jobs has been highest in Group C and Group D where the degree of contractualisation has been the greatest. Of all the central government jobs lost between 2014-15 and 2022-23, 86 per cent were of Group C and Group D employees.
Outsourcing of work, sourcing of staff through private contractors and companies, and deployment of contractual staff has become rampant in public institutions.
Privatisation of education has meant that there has been no increase in employment of teachers in government educational institutions. As a result, the proportion of teachers from these marginalised sections has fallen sharply. In 2023-24, only 7.7 per cent of school teachers were from STs and 12.6 per cent belong to SCs. The record of private schools in employing SC/ST teachers has been very poor. Only 13 per cent of teachers in private schools were SC/ST.
Reservation policies are not extended to many areas where employment is created using public money. This includes scheme workers, government-aided private educational institutions, and employees recruited through contractors and private agencies. In the 2024 budget the central government proposed a set of employment-linked schemes which gives public money to corporates, including 500 big companies for various schemes of employment for 20 lakh interns. About Rs 1.73 lakh crore of public money is estimated to be spent on this scheme, but there is no reservation for SCs, STs or OBCs in this scheme.
Privatisation and contractualisation are at the core of neoliberal policies. These have resulted in informalisation of employment and have eroded the reach of reservations as a tool for affirmative action against caste-based exclusion and discrimination. The 24th Congress of the CPI(M) demands that the reservation policy be extended to the entire organised private sector, and all registered institutions including private companies be required to implement reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs.