On 15th August 2023, Bihar’s deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav attended an independence day program at a Dalit basti in Patna, Bihar. While addressing the public gathering at this time, he said, “We want reservation in the private sector also, only then the people of the backward class will get developed.”
Tejashwi Yadav’s remark has come after his party Rashtriya Janata Dal and his family have remained in the state’s power for almost two decades and are an influential political force in the state for at least the last 32 years.
पटना के दलित बस्ती में झंडोत्तोलन के दौरान तेजस्वी यादव ने कहा हम चाहते है निजी क्षेत्र में भी आरक्षण हो,तभी पिछले वर्ग के लोगों को विकास होगा .! pic.twitter.com/cLtyYFDvrO
— Mukesh singh (@Mukesh_Journo) August 15, 2023
Private sector reservations demanded by Tejashwi Yadav find their “allegedly legitimate” basis in the caste-based census he is demanding. This is why Tejashwi Yadav announced in his speech that Bihar will implement the private sector reservations once the caste census finishes. RJD for the past several years is flagging caste-based census and the reservations in the private sector as an important tool for their so-called campaign for economic justice for the Dalit community.
Bihar will implement the private sector reservations once the caste census finishes, announces Deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav. pic.twitter.com/GlTZ81antd
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) August 15, 2023
RJD’s Demand for Reservations in the Private Sector
This is not the first time that Tejashwi Yadav has talked about implementing reservations in the private sector in Bihar. Earlier, during the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections of 2019, RJD included this issue in its election manifesto. The basis of this promise was caste-based census only as RJD promised reservation for SCs, STs, EBCs and OBCs in the private sector and the higher judiciary, in proportion to their population. Tejashwi Yadav has also voiced this demand for reservations in the private sector based on the caste-based census in 2022, and also in 2021.
Is there any significant private sector in Bihar? Will reservations be effective?
The RJD projects that the enactment of the private sector reservation policy in Bihar will benefit Dalits but in fact, it will yield limited impact on the formal private sector within the state, if at all implemented. Bihar’s formal private sector (which includes some pharmaceutical companies, a few IT centers, and finance houses) remains relatively modest in scale, predominantly characterized by very few substantial enterprises, thereby rendering them less susceptible to the policy’s direct effects. When compared to other states, Bihar’s ‘private sector’ is notably smaller in numerical terms. However, it is worth highlighting that Bihar holds significant untapped potential for economic development.
Except pharma& finance sectors I don't see private reservation affecting Bihar in any way now. Other formal pvt sectors don't exist here.
— Arminius (@arminiu_ss) August 15, 2023
Low scale pvt sector- construction, shops, dealers etc employ mostly labour( almost 90%) from Obc/sc
It will stall entry of industries.
The informal private sector in Bihar (including construction, shops, marts, dealers, and distributors businesses) is much larger than the formal private sector, and it employs a large number of people from the OBC and SC communities. If businesses in the informal private sector are forced to reserve a certain percentage of jobs for these communities, it could make it more difficult for them to hire qualified workers. This is because the operations in this employment require skill and not a particular caste.
On the other hand, forcing formal private sector organizations like various companies, conglomerates, and big corporate houses to employ people of certain castes in predecided proportions burdens them with a risk of compromising the talent to perform the specialized jobs they require. This could discourage investment and growth in the formal private sector as well.
In either case, caste-based reservations in the private sector do not go well with a state like Bihar where caste representation in certain jobs is not the biggest problem. There are many other issues in the state too, which rather than getting solved are being politicized for decades by the parties like RJd and the politicians like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav.
And what about those 10 lakh jobs that Tejaswi promised?
In 2020, Tejashwi Yadav promised that he would sanction 10 lakh jobs in his very first cabinet meeting if he comes to power. In 2020, RJD was in opposition and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) was in the national democratic alliance with the BJP. The NDA won the elections and Nitish Kumar became the chief minister. In 2022, Nitish Kumar severed ties with BJP and Tejashwi Yadav entered the government as the deputy chief minister.
When asked about his electoral promise of 10 lakh jobs, Tejashwi Yadav passed the buck of employment generation on the Bihar Chief Minister. In an exclusive interview with Zee News on 11th August 2022, Yadav was quizzed about his pre-poll promise of providing 10 lakh jobs to youth in the State. “Do you have any plans of implementing your promise and how?”
The RJD chief first blamed the Central government for supposedly ‘eating away all jobs and shutting down factories’. “Unemployment is the biggest challenge not just in Bihar but across the country,” he claimed. Yadav further pointed out, “I stand by my commitment. But, I had said that 10 lakh jobs will be provided once I become the Chief Minister. I will only be holding the position of Deputy Chief Minister in the current government.”
After several years of his father and then his mother ruling the state as chief ministers, Yadav’s excuse was that development can happen in Bihar only when he becomes the chief minister.
What is the neighboring Uttar Pradesh up to?
On 11th August 2023, the Uttar Pradesh government categorically rejected the idea of introducing reservations for jobs in the private sector. The decision was taken after the opposition parties demanded that the government brings rules for reservations in private-sector jobs.
Today in Vidhan Sabha ~ Refusing opposition demand, Govt categorically denied to introduce reservation for jobs in Private Sector
— The Uttar Pradesh Index (@theupindex) August 11, 2023
This is a step in right direction, specially for a state which seeks to be a 1 trillion USD economy through industrialisation & private investment. pic.twitter.com/urh9X4RhhK
It is notable that the Uttar Pradesh government led by chief minister Yogi Adityanath aims to make Uttar Pradesh an economy of USD 1 trillion. For a state that traditionally relied more upon agriculture – just like Bihar – it becomes necessary to grow the industrial sector and create great employment opportunities in the private sector to achieve this feat.
Uttar Pradesh is therefore trying to attract more businesses and investments from across the globe to come and settle in the state. Big industrial houses operate and flourish relying more on sheer talent, skills, and merit rather than some caste-based or region-based reservations. Industries may get discouraged by such state policies which are nothing but politically driven appeasement in the name of social justice. Enforcing reservations in this sector would thus become a hurdle in the state’s growth. Yogi Adityanath’s government has therefore dismissed this idea.
Bihar, RJD, and Yadavs have a lot to learn from Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath
Bihar may come out of the problems just like Uttar Pradesh is growing under the Yogi Adityanath government. The growth of the private sector and especially the industries in Bihar is not possible without a proactive approach of the state government to attracting investment from the private sector. The manufacturing sector in Bihar has a huge unexplored potential sacrificed in the decades of politics in the name of social justice causes, essentially, in running political agendas at the cost of development.
Lalu Prasad Yadav claims to be carrying a legacy of Ram Manohar Lohiya’s socialism. But in reality, his party’s rule of 2 decades in Bihar ensured that Bihar becomes a Jungle Raj. Ransom, murders, extortion, and kidnappings had been the mainstream “private sector industries” in Bihar for those years in the 1990s (pun intended). Tejashwi Yadav, by demanding a caste-based census and batting for reservations in private sector jobs is making it worse.
The growth of the private sector will reduce poverty and unemployment in Bihar. However, there are still significant challenges to employment generation in the state all thanks to the 20 Jungle Raj years of the RJD rule, and the subsequent decay that it brought. These problems include low levels of education and skills in the workforce, lack of infrastructure, such as roads and power, political instability, and poor business climate in Bihar.
Bihar has poor infrastructure, especially in terms of roads, power, and telecommunications. This makes it difficult and expensive for businesses to operate in the state. Bihar has a large population, but a relatively low level of education and skills. This makes it difficult for businesses to find the skilled workers they need. Bihar has a complex and bureaucratic regulatory environment. This makes it difficult and time-consuming for businesses to start and operate in the state. Bihar has a history of political instability. This makes it difficult for businesses to plan for the long term and invest in the state.
In such a situation, a political push for reservations in private jobs will only discourage the industries to come and settle in Bihar. Tejashwi Yadav is actually demanding that to happen in the guise of serving Dalits and backward communities, only to ensure that his political existence remains intact by fooling the masses in the generations to come just like his parents did in the past.
