Way forward for Kshatriyas

Kshatriyas versus Neo-Samants: Institutional & Intellectual Dual-Standards

Recent UPSC results of 2023 have thrown up a very miserable picture of Rajput representation in civil services. Hardly ten Rajputs made it through. Rajputs have a 8-9 crore strong population in India which roughly equals to 6% of India’s population. If Rajputs were to be adequately represented in civil services, there have to be at least 60 successful Rajput candidates in UPSC out of a 1000 total vacancies.

But many would ask, do Rajputs have eligibility for OBC quota? Have Rajputs been historically disadvantaged?

Our answer to both of them should be an emphatic yes.

If having erstwhile rulers and zamindars from your caste were an exclusion criterion, Ahirs of Haryana, Gujjars of Madhya Pradesh and Jats of Rajasthan shouldn’t be eligible for OBC quota either. The Ahir Rao of Rewari had an istimrari jagir grant to his name for 87 villages from the Mughal monarch. Later it got reduced to 12 but it existed nonetheless. Ahirs have been enjoying OBC quota to the fullest to such an extent that a vast majority of civil servants from OBC category in Haryana have been Ahirs. Similarly, Jats in Rajasthan were relatively even more advanced. They had no jagirdari to their name, but two whole princely states. Yet, they were granted OBC quota and none objected. Today, one look at the numbers of IPS officers Rajasthan gives every year and the overwhelming number of Jats would be very hard to miss.

Why leave Rajputs out then?

Sure, some Rajputs were rulers. But what about the vast majority of the commoner Rajputs? Who had to take up jobs as soldiers or security guards under either the barons or the rich merchants to make ends meet. How was their condition any better than Jats? Jats, by the way, even saw social mobility under the employ of princely states . Baldev Singh Mirdha, a Jat of Nagaur, rose up to the rank of DIG under Jodhpur Darbar. Even Gujjars enjoyed tremendous clout as ‘Dha-bhais’ under various baronies and princely states, besides having a princely state in Madhya Pradesh(Samthar).If Jats in Rajasthan can be considered for OBC given they ruled only in two of 19 states, surely the commoner Rajputs who have no immediate royal connection must be afforded the same consideration. It’d only be fair and moral.

Second, do Rajputs have a case? Jats of Haryana tried too for OBC. They couldn’t make it. How can we?

Well, the primary impediment to Jat inclusion was their overrepresentation in services. They exaggerated their population in Haryana to 25%, yet their representation in services was found to be over thirty percent. There can be no justification for giving reservation to an already overrepresented community.

Now turn to Rajputs . Nowhere in India do Rajputs have enjoyed such a great hold over public services as have the jats in Haryana (or Rajasthan, as of today). Rajputs are heavily and systematically underrepresented in every public service there is. Hence, Rajput demand for OBC status isn’t a case of want, but of sore need. This part was first published here