Awakening

In 1904, the Board of Revenue obtained from the Collectors a report classifying all employees on the basis of caste in the superior services of the Revenue offices in the Districts. It was found that the ratio of Brahmins to Non-Brahmins was 70:30. The Board instructed the Collectors to arrange for the recruitment of Non-Brahmins in such a way to ensure that public jobs were more fairly distributed to various local castes in proportion to their population. The Board also advised certain Collectors about the desirability of increasing the number of Non-Brahmin Deputy Tahsildars in their districts, if qualified men were available. A list of revenue employees in each district was ordered to be printed annually so that Collectors might ensure that instructions contained in BSO 128(2) were scrupulously observed.

In a joint memorandum to the Viceroy in 1907 the Anjuman-I-Mufid-I-Anle_I-Islam, the Mohammadan Educational Association of Southern India, and the Madras Presidency Muslim League, prayed that no particular caste should have a monopoly of public services but that State patronage should be as fairly distributed among different communities as may be possible, consistent with the maintenance of a high standard of efficiency.

In 1911, the Madras State Secretariat scrutinized the Revenue establishment lists from districts and found that in not less that 10 out of the 24 districts of the Presidency of Madras the B.S.O.128 (2) of 1854 had been completely disregarded. The Government, therefore, considered it most important to implement the B.S.O as quickly as possible so that the officers manning the post of Sarishtadar and Head Clerk, the two posts heading officials in the Collectorate should not be of the same caste.

The period between 1908 and 1915 saw lot of political awakening in the matter of representation to the various castes in the public services. Sustained campaigns for political progress underlined the importance of social justice. A Royal Commission on Public Services was appointed in the year 1912. 

In 1913 three Muslim Associations along with the Catholic Indian Association of Southern India presented a Memorandum to the Viceroy during his visit to the Presidency protesting against the monopoly of one particular caste and praying for a more equitable distribution of Government posts among all the Communities. When the public debates on this matter was raging Mr.Alexander Cadrew, a Member of the Governor’s Executive Council, supported the demands of the non-Brahmins and observed, “It is impossible to apply a system of open competition to the recruitment of the Civil Services in India unless a monopoly is to be accorded to the Brahmins.” He suggested for the first time a fixed percentage of posts for different communities and competition to be restricted to the members of the same community. This is perhaps the starting point of communal reservation in government jobs. The problem of non compliance to the instructions of the highest administrative authority in the Presidency at a time when the whole government machinery was highly disciplined is not far to seek. Perhaps, there were not enough qualified hands in the backward classes to fill in the required number of posts. This again is a direct result of the lack of educational opportunities for this class of people compared to the higher caste Brahmins. Thus, such a situation naturally leads to the demand for reservation in the educational institutions.

The success of the Justice Party in the 1920 Elections brought in the subject of reservation to the fore. In the newly constituted Legislative Council, in August 1921, a resolution was passed recommending to the Government that steps be taken to increase the proportion of posts in Government offices held by the non-Brahmin community. Instructions were accordingly issued to all Heads of Departments. To monitor the implementation of this order, the Heads of Departments, Collectors and District judges were directed to submit to Government half-yearly reports showing the number of men newly appointed in the permanent service during the half-year under the following headings:

          1. Brahmins
          2. Non-Brahmins Hindus
          3. Indian Christians
          4. Mohammedans
          5.

This came to be known as the first communal G.O (Govt. Order). There was pressure for proportionate distribution of government jobs based on communities’ strength in the population. In G.O. Ms. No. 1071, Public Department, dated 4.11.1927, the following distribution was ordered and it continued to be in force till 1947.

The Madras Provincial Backward Classes League, an Association representing the various Backward Hindu communities was founded in 1934 and it demanded a separate quota for the Backward Classes. In 1947, the Government passed an order giving separate representation to the Backward Hindus, and also increased the then existing representation of one out of 12 allowed for Depressed classes. In the place of the earlier allocation of the unit of 12 appointments a revised allocation of a unit of 14 appointments as shown below was ordered:-

(To Be Continued)