Need to re-think why inclusive development couldn’t be achieved: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on reservation

“Ambedkarji had said reservation was required only for 10 years. But, there might have been shortcomings in planning and execution. To hide our weakness, we kept extending the reservation every ten years,” said Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan .

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Sunday waded into the reservation debate describing the practice of extending the facility by 10 years as a ‘shortcoming’ while BR Ambedkar, the architect of India’s constitution, had mooted reservation system for a decade to usher in inclusive development.

Speaker Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan addressing the a select gathering during the concluding function of three day conference Lok Manthan 2018 at Khel Gaow Hotwar in Ranchi on September 30, 2018. (Parwaz Khan/HT Photo)

She also asked whether the goals of inclusive development envisaged by Ambedkar have been achieved, but insisted that she was not against reservation which remains a very sensitive issue in the country.

“I am not against reservation. But, it has to be reviewed if the dream of inclusive development of the society, which was dreamt by Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, was achieved or not,” she said at the concluding function of four-day Lok Manthan, a biennial brainstorming session by an RSS affiliated body Prajna Pravah.

“Ambedkarji had said reservation was required only for 10 years, as he had dreamt that inclusive development of the society would be attained by then. But, there might have been shortcomings in planning and execution. To hide our weakness, we kept extending the reservation every ten years.”

“How long would it go like this? We have to re-think and introspect why inclusive development could not be achieved? The people, who availed the benefits of reservation and were uplifted, would also have to think if they contributed in the development of the society,” Mahajan said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have gone on record to say the party will never allow the removal of reservation for the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe.

In January 2017, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue Manmohan Vaidya sparked a furore saying reservation was not required because it promotes separatism and called for a re-think on the quota system.

His statement drew fire from the Opposition which accused the RSS and the BJP of being anti-Dalit and least concerned about the downtrodden and underprivileged sections of the society.