UPSC Mains 2023 GS2 Q17: model answer

Welfare schemes choose beneficiaries, so in a literal sense they treat people differently. The question is whether this difference is unfair.

Why they may seem discriminatory

• They classify people by caste, tribe, gender, income or region.
• Exclusion errors: the deserving are left out because of documents, Aadhaar failures or outdated lists like SECC 2011.
• Inclusion errors: the better-off capture benefits, such as the creamy layer within reserved groups.
• Groups just above cut-offs feel left out, as in protests over reservation.
• Stigma can follow beneficiaries.

Why I largely disagree

• Equality is not sameness: treating unequals equally keeps them unequal. Article 14 permits reasonable classification with a rational link to the aim.
• Constitutional mandate: Articles 15(3), 15(4), 16(4) and 46 direct special care for women, SCs, STs and backward classes.
• Substantive equality: courts in N.M. Thomas (1975) and Indra Sawhney (1992) saw reservation as part of equality, not an exception.
• Results: MGNREGA, PM-KISAN, Ujjwala and scholarships lifted many out of poverty; women's quotas in panchayats changed local priorities.
• EWS quota upheld in Janhit Abhiyan (2022) shows targeting can widen beyond caste.

The real problems lie in design and delivery

• Better data, regular updating of beneficiary lists.
• Saturation approach so that no eligible person is missed.
• Universal basic services like health and education alongside targeted aid.
• Social audits and grievance redress.

Welfare schemes are discriminatory only in the sense that a doctor 'discriminates' by giving medicine to the sick. Done fairly, they are tools of justice.