Anant Teltumbude is a civil rights activist – who is married into the Ambedkar family. His wife is the grand-daughter of BR Ambedkar. He stays in Rajgriha, Dadar – which is partly Ambedkar museum – and part residence. Here is some Wikipedia gyan on our friend.
Teltumbde was born on 15 July 1951 in Rajur, a village in Yavatmal, to a family of Dalit farm labourers. He earned a mechanical engineering degree from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology in 1973, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in 1982 and a PhD from the University of Mumbai in cybernetic modelling in 1993. Teltumbde was an Executive Director at Bharat Petroleum and managing director of Petronet India Limited before becoming an academic. He was a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and later became a senior professor at the Goa Institute of Management. Teltumbde advocates for a closer relationship between Marxism and the Ambedkarite movements in fighting for Dalit liberation, as well as reform of the reservation system in India.
Anant was in prison for 2 years on charges of sedition because of his purported involvement in the Elgar Parishad violence. Anant has been a civil rights activist, but now is confined only to writing, as activism is not allowed in his bail condition.
Ambedkar’s struggle was for political reservation. Anant’s regret is that independence did not change power structures. The Indian constitution borrowed heavily from the one made by the British in 1935. About 250 of the 350 articles are almost verbatim copies of the same. Although BRA was the chair of the constituent assembly, most of the shots were called by the Congress oligarchy of Nehru, Patel and Azad. The new regime continued the lifestyles of the old one, with the viceregal lodge and the bungalows reused by the Congress top brass. They wanted a continuation of the status quo – and also wanted to ensure that governance continued on more or less the same lines as the British. The brown sahibs replaced the gora sahibs!
There was an interesting discussion on The First Past the Post (FPTP), vs Proportional representation (PR). PR definitely helps with diversity in governance. But the Congress was keen to have FPTP because it helps single party rule – PR usually means coalitions. Anant also touched upon the importance of ideology in politics. The Mandal parties are ideologically rooted to reservations. The BJP borrows ideological masala from the RSS – and they are committed to removing reservations. He sees a bleak future for the Congress – simply because it is a very transactional party, with no firm stands. It makes choices tactically.
Earlier censuses would report castes, but from 1931 onwards caste data was not collected – only schedule castes were enumerated. Governments only like data when it is convenient for them. Because data is not neutral. Even today caste explains for a lot of inequality in society. Caste is very fluid, Anant refers to it as a notion. In 2011 there was a socio economics survey where people were allowed to define their own castes. The caste count came to 46 lakhs! The purpose of a caste census is to solidify this fluidity. In British days, un-touch-ability was the main criterion to define backwardness. It was easy in that sense – because classification was simple. In independent India, we outlawed untouchability – but continued to trust its sibling – the caste. Anant raises the question: How can you abolish untouchability if caste is not abolished? Only three members of parliament asked this question in 1951. None of the scheduled caste members of the constituent assembly raised their voice.
Reservations cannot be treated casually. The alibi for reservations was social justice. Most Dalits are daily wage workers working in the informal sector. 20 to 30% of their family income is contributed to by children. The kids don’t go to school so how will reservation help? The only beneficiaries are the ones who are already educated. After independence, caste based reservations became a political tool. The entire country was backward, so having a category called backward classes itself was ironical. Divide and rule helps in governance. Who to include and who not to decided who won and who lost in an election. The BJP’s agreement to include caste in the census was necessitated by coalition politics. TDP and JDU continue to play an important role to prop up the government at the center – and they are votaries of the caste census.
The scheduled caste who converted to Buddhism continued to derive advantage of the reservation because on paper they continue to show themselves as Hindus. The VP Singh government extended the reservation for Buddhists. The Maharashtra government also extended reservation to Buddhist. And in the new clauses Sikhs are also benefiting from reservation. Christians and Muslims are the religions that have so far been out of purview of our reservation system.
Neo-liberalism punctured the foundations of reservation. We are seeing movements questioning the current structures. Marathwada is seeing a gairan occupation movement by landless labour. Marathas and dominant castes in states like Gujarat and Rajasthan are clamouring to be included in the backward castes to benefit from reservations. What has caused the dominant rural castes to agitate? Their historical privileges are getting eroded. Add to this, a decrease in public goods and an increase in inequality during the last decade. Reduced subsidies and climate stress have added fuel to the fire.
Reservation for economic weaker section (EWS) has to be seen in this context. In the 2024 elections, the creamy layer OBCs did not vote for the BJP. It was the non creamy layer which were the BJP supporters and that’s who the BJP wants to reward. According to Anant, the 15% reservation for upper caste makes sense. It also helps the ruling party in diverting attention from core economic issues.
Anant is an advocate of universal capability building. This is better than a targeted approach that we are following today. Universal Capacity Building will not provide resentment. Do we have the resources to do that? He took an example of the Nordic countries. The pillars for universal capability building are: land reform, education, healthcare and social security.