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THE POLITICS OF RESERVATION!
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THE POLITICS OF RESERVATION!

Sep 06- Sep 12, 2025, Stray Thoughts September 5, 2025 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when the subject of the politics of reservations. The commercial capital Mumbai is still recovering from the 5-day-long siege by the Marathas demanding that they should be given the status of other backward classes. For a Saturday following the week when the burden of ageing. The first 25 to 30 years of our lives are spent on preparing ourselves to earn a living. For a Saturday following the week when For a Saturday following the week when the new global realignment following the trade war launched by Donald Trump. For a Saturday following the week when the Supreme Court modifying its judgment on stray dogs. For a Saturday following the week when judgment in the Mauvin Godinho power scam case.

POLITICS OF RESERVATION
AND a few stray thoughts for another Saturday on the subject of the politics of reservations. The commercial capital Mumbai is still recovering from the 5-day-long siege by the Marathas demanding that they should be given the status of other backward classes. More specifically the Marathas want to be equated with the Kunbi who are already included in the category of other backward classes. The Kunbi in Maharashtra should not be confused with the Kunbi who are one of the four major tribes of Goa recognized by both the State and the Center.
The Kunbi in Maharashtra are primarily agriculturists. On the surface it would appear strange that the Marathas, who claim to be descendents of Maratha King Shivaji Maharaj, should be so anxious to acquire the status of other backward classes. The demand has nothing to do with social status. Indeed, the Marathas are amongst the most dominant caste groups in Maharashtra. The battle is all about admission to professional colleges and eligibility for government jobs.
More and more members of prominent communities in every state in the country want their share of the fishes and loaves of political entitlement. Being the dominant caste both socially and economically as of now the Marathas do not get the benefit of any reservations.
THIS puts them at a disadvantage compared to other backward classes. Originally, the Indian Constitution only envisaged reservations for the most backward classes who were referred to as scheduled caste and tribes. Gandhi, of course, called them “harijans” meaning “children of god.” Unfortunately, this itself has become a stigma. Which is why the father of the Constitution, Basaheb Ambedkar, initiated a mass conversion of the oppressed so called “sudra” to Buddhism. This did not help the backward classes as they lost the benefit of reservations.
The logic behind reservations is that the lower castes were oppressed by the upper castes comprising the Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishyas for centuries. It was believed that the most backward communities needed time to catch up with the upper castes. The reservations were supposed to be for a limited period of time. They kept getting prolonged. Worse still even the upper caste groups started demanding that they should be given the benefit of reservations. This was the origin of the new category of the other backward classes. The percentage of reservations for the so called other backward classes ranges between 15% and 25% in various states.
It is not only in Maharashtra. All over the country the dominant castes are willing to go down lower in the caste hierarchy to avail of benefits. In Gujarat, the Patidars are a dominant community in politics and businesses, and have been demanding OBC status . In Haryana, it is the Jats who are anxious to be become a backward caste. In Karnataka the powerful Lingayat community wants backward class status.
IN GOA the first chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar, brought all the backward class castes together under the umbrella of the Bahujan Samaj. In the last few years the dominant Bhandari samaj (the business section) have also been demanding reservations, though it constitutes 40% of the Goan population.
Former Chief Minister Ravi Naik and Union Minister Shripad Naik are from the Bhandari samaj. So are the top professionals in Goa. The problem is all parents want their children to become engineers, doctors, lawyers and chartered accountants. Like Goans, everyone wants a government job. For historical reasons, because education was their monopoly, the Brahmins have an edge over the other castes when it comes to competing for admissions to professional colleges and government jobs on merit. This is spurring the demand for reservations.
The consequence has been it is more difficult for a Brahmin in Tamil Nadu or a Saraswat Brahmin in Goa to get admission to a professional college. Almost 40 % of the seats in engineering and medical colleges are reserved for various backward class categories. There is also the quota in Goa for freedom fighters and sports persons. Every state also has to keep a percentage of the seats for Central government service, this is called the all-India quota.
It is not social considerations but harsh economic realities, that are behind the countrywide demand by the upper caste dominant groups, for backward caste status.

BURDEN OF AGING
AND a few stray thoughts on the burden of ageing. The first 25 to 30 years of our lives are spent on preparing ourselves to earn a living. Irrespective of what discipline we choose it takes 21 years or more to get a basic degree like BA or BCom or BSc. Unfortunately, this is not enough to get a lucrative job . You have to further specialize and this may take another three or four years, to get your MBBS or engineering degree, or management degree. By the time you acquire some stability in your job or vocation you are probably 30 years old.
Given the fact that the average retirement age in government and private sector is 60 years or at the most 65 years, it means you have only 30 years to earn enough money not only for your present requirements but for your retired life. If you retire at the age of 60 and are blessed or cursed to live even up to 90 years, you have to have to have enough resources to sustain yourself for a minimum of 30 years. Improvements in public health may have contributed to longevity. Unfortunately, institutions have not caught up and we are forced to retire even if we are at the peak productivity in our 70s and 80s.
It is significant that there seems to be no retirement age in politics. Most of the heads of government, including that of the richest country, the USA, and second largest country population- wise India, have leaders who are over 75 years old. Power seems to be the best anti-aging formula. I recall seeing Narasimha Rao when he was the home minister of the country . Narasimha Rao came across as very feeble and barely able to walk. He then became chief minister and underwent a total transformation.
THE cost of living and indeed even dying has gone up steeply. As we grow older medical expenses go up. Ironically, we need more money after we retire than when working. Unlike in the countries of the west there are no social security systems in place. The wretched insurance companies and particularly the medical insurance companies do not insure people over 60 years of age and in many cases, do not offer to renew insurance policies after 50 years of age.
Government hospitals are a nightmare and private hospitals are prohibitively expensive. Perhaps everyone should follow the Japanese pattern where employees are willing to work up to any age provided they are mentally fit. The old Goan corporate houses and the Tata group still follow this tradition. The traditional business houses like the Salgaocars, the Dempos and the Bandekars, allow their senior employees to work well into their 80s. The only problem with this model is it deprives younger people of jobs.

GLOBAL ALIGNMENT
AND a few stray thoughts on the new global realignment following the trade war launched by Donald Trump. After the Second World War there were only two groups, namely the Soviet block and the Western block. The Soviet block along with China consisted of all the countries which came under communist rule after the Second World War. The United States emerged as the leader of the so called democratic Western world stretching from UK to Europe to Australia.
In the large two decades the world has become more complex or more democratic. China and Russia and even Japan have caught up with the United States. At least in terms of technology and so much so the balance of power has shifted. Unlike in the 70s or 80s the US cannot any longer call all the shots. On the contrary the US has become dependent on China and India and to a lesser extent on South Korea and other South East Asian countries for cheap labor.
With increasing prosperity Americans demand much higher wages, so much so all major American countries have outsourced manufacturing to countries like China and India where labor costs are much lower. Besides lower labor costs the labor laws are also more flexible. In Europe and the US you cannot make workers labor more than 40 hours a day. In China the average work week is of 80 hours.
The world has become totally globalized. Goods are produced where it is cheapest to manufacture and sold worldwide wherever they can get maximum profit. Donald Trump in his obsession with “Make America Great Again” wants to bring back manufacturing goods to America. Which is the logic behind imposing heavy import duties on goods. The irony is that it is the American consumer who is the biggest victim. Consequent on the 50% import duty on the Apple iphones manufactured in India, the US consumer will have to pay 50% more.
To give an example. If the iphone costs a thousand dollars the US consumer will have to pay $1,500 dollars. The healthcare industry has been badly affected by the 50% tariff on Indian pharma products. Pharma companies based in India account for as much as 40% of all the drugs consumed in the US. Trump seems to be forgetting in his old age that India and China are the largest markets, there is no country in the world which can survive without the huge Indian market. With the dragon doing the tango with the elephant and the Russian bear applauding Donald Trump will find himself totally isolated.

STRAY DOGS SHELTERS
AND a few stray thoughts on the Supreme Court modifying its judgment on stray dogs. A 2-member bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that all stray dogs should be taken off the streets in Delhi and Gurgaon and lodged in shelters. This is clearly not possible as the stray dogs population in many cities probably exceeds the human population. In the light of protests from animal rights activists, a larger bench of the SC has permitted stray dogs to remain in public places like streets, with the proviso that they should be sterilized. There is also a ban on feeding stray dogs in public places.
Historically, stray dogs have multiplied because while everyone is willing to feed stray dogs, nobody is willing to give them a home. On the other hand, there are an increasing number of cases of not only street dogs, but even fierce pet dogs going on a biting spree. The pitbull dogs which is a nasty species are in the limelight for they love to attack children.
There have been any number of reports of stray dogs targeting tourists including foreign tourists on the beaches of Goa. A balance has to be struck between love for animals and the danger from animals. A stray dog bite can cause lead to rabies as we have seen personally and it can have fatal consequences. My friend Radharao Gracias, a veteran lawyer and one-time MLA, has pointed out that there is no bar on feeding stray cows in every part of India. In fact, the Hindutva brigade promotes the feeding of cows on streets. Stray dogs are of course a different matter altogether.

MAUVIN GODHINO
AND a last stray thought on the judgment in the Mauvin Godinho power scam case. In the 80s and the 90s the then Industries Minister Luizinho Faleiro decided to invite steel rolling mills to Goa. Steel rolling mills melt scrap in electric furnaces to produce steel rods and other steel products from which a lot of the steel furniture like slotted angles shelves are made. The steel rolling mills are a very profitable industrial option. The raw material scrap is readily available cheap. The main raw material is power to operate the furnaces for melting the scrap.
Not only did the Economic Development Corporaton which was then under the Industries Ministry offer these units from outside Goa huge loans, it also offered them huge discounts in power tariffs. A stage was reached when the Electricity Department started incurring huge losses due to the huge generous power rebates. The situation was compounded by the reluctance of the steel rolling mills to pay back the loans taken from the EDC, though they were making bumper profits.
The then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane convened a Cabinet meeting and a decision was taken to discontinue rebates in power tariffs to the steel rolling mills. Mauvin Godinho who was the power minister in the Rane government extended a huge power rebate to the extent of Rs4 crore plus to Mormugoa Steel, owned by a member of the extended Mittal family. This was clearly illegal as it went against the Cabinet decision to discontinue power rebates.
Promptly Manohar Parrikar, who was then in the Opposition, filed a criminal complaint against Mauvin Godinho for misusing his office to extend power rebate illegally for a huge kickback. I understand that the kickback was more than 25% or over Rs1crore. Manohar Parrikar who formed the coalition government after the fall of the Sardinha ministry was forced to include Mauvin Godinho in his ministry. Parrikar even tried to withdraw the complaint but was not allowed to do so. Mauvin ensured that the case dragged on for over 20 years.
Judge Arshad Agha has made it very clear that he had to acquit Mauvin Godinho only because Pratapsingh Rane who was then the chief minister, refused to enter the witness box or even give a statement to the effect that Mauvin had illegally extended the rebate. Judges are helpless when the key witnesses turn hostile. This is no reason to deny Arshad Agha a seat in the high court considering he has a very good record.

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