A study by World Development Journal has revealed that reservations in public sector jobs have not affected the productivity or efficiency rather it has had positive impact in some areas.
In this path breaking report, impact of reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) on productivity and efficiency in the Indian Railways between 1980 and 2002 has been measured.
The study was conducted by Ashwini Deshpande, Professor at the Delhi School of Economics, and Thomas Weisskopf, Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan.
Ms. Deshpande said, “The Indian Railways is the largest employer in the world where the affirmative action or positive discrimination applies.”
The Indian Railways employs approx 1.4 million people at all the four levels- Group A to Group D There is 15 % reservation for SC and 7 % for ST at each levels apart from the 27% for Other Backward castes.
Since people from marginalized background would have been unlikely to reach A or B levels, the study looked at SC and STs at A or B level only.
The study also compared the zones and periods of time with higher number of SC and ST employees to the ones with lower numbers to find out overall impact in their respective productivity. They found positive impact on productivity and efficiency in any area, and improvement in some areas of work.
Ms. Deshpande further added, “Beyond the numbers, we can speculate about the reasons for why there might be some positive impact of affirmative action”
“Individuals from marginalised groups may be especially highly motivated to perform well when they attain decision-making and managerial positions, because of the fact that they have reached these positions in the face of claims that they are not sufficiently capable, and they may consequently have a strong desire to prove their detractors wrong,” said the authors.
The president of the All-India Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Railway Employees Association., B.L. Bairwa also agreed , “At every level where there is discretionary power, SC/ ST employees are systematically discriminated against and when an SC or ST employee rises, he has to prove himself and work extra hard. I am not surprised the efficiency goes up.”
He also cited a no. of cases where the deserving SC/ST employees were arbitrarily transferred or passed up in promotions or given bad records.
