VAID'S ICS – Best UPSC Anthropology Coaching in Delhi Since 1985

Comprehensive Classroom Course · Admissions openRegister now
+91 93113 37737
  • +91-93113 37737, +91-99999 46748
  • 73(FF), Old Rajender Nagar Market, Delhi - 110060
  • MON to SUN 9.00 am - 6.00 pm
Facebook Youtube Instagram
Menu
Enquire Now
Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2020/Paper II/Tribal Development, Policy & Safeguards
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper II 2020 15 Marks Model Answer Available

Job Reservation and Tribal Unemployment — 2020 Paper II

Question · 2020 · Paper II · 15 Marks

Discuss the effect of job reservation in alleviating unemployment among the tribal people of India.

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question: Assess how reservation in public employment has reduced unemployment and improved mobility among Scheduled Tribes, along with its limitations.
  • Structuring the Response: Discuss employment, representation and middle-class formation, then examine educational, regional and structural constraints.

Model Answer

Introduction

Reservation in public employment constitutes an important instrument of protective discrimination for Scheduled Tribes. It seeks not merely to reduce unemployment but to compensate for historical exclusion and improve tribal representation within state institutions.

Constitutional basis

Article 16(4) enables reservation in public employment for inadequately represented backward classes, while Article 335 recognizes the claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in services and posts, consistent with administrative efficiency.

Job reservation has therefore opened sectors historically inaccessible to tribal populations.

Positive effects

  1. Access to secure employment: Reservation has enabled tribal candidates to enter:
  • government departments;
  • public-sector institutions;
  • administrative services;
  • education and other formal occupations.

This reduces dependence on insecure agricultural and casual labour for successful beneficiaries.

  1. Upward social mobility: Salaried employment generates:
  • regular income;
  • educational investment;
  • housing improvement;
  • occupational mobility;
  • greater social security.

Thus:

Reservation → Formal employment → Income security → Social mobility

  1. Emergence of an educated tribal middle class: Government employment has contributed to the formation of a tribal professional and administrative stratum.

This group may act as:

  • political leadership;
  • cultural intermediaries;
  • advocates for tribal rights.
  1. Representation in administration: Presence of tribal personnel can improve representation in institutions responsible for implementing programmes affecting Scheduled Tribes.
  2. Intergenerational effect: Employment of one generation may improve educational and occupational opportunities for subsequent generations.

Limitations in alleviating unemployment

  1. Reservation operates only after eligibility: A reserved vacancy benefits candidates who have already acquired the required educational qualifications.

Low educational attainment therefore limits effective utilization.

Education deficit → Low eligibility → Limited access to reserved employment

  1. Limited size of government sector: Reservation applies primarily to a finite formal employment sector and cannot absorb the large tribal workforce.

Most tribal employment continues to be concentrated in:

  • agriculture;
  • forest-based livelihoods;
  • informal labour;
  • construction;
  • migration.
  1. Geographical disadvantage: Remote tribal areas often have poorer access to:
  • quality schooling;
  • coaching;
  • digital resources;
  • information regarding vacancies.

This creates unequal competition even within reserved categories.

  1. Skill mismatch: Formal-sector jobs may require technical, linguistic and professional skills not easily accessible in marginalized regions.
  2. Backlog and implementation issues: Unfilled reserved vacancies and delays in recruitment can weaken the actual employment impact.
  3. Unequal distribution of benefits: Better-educated and relatively advantaged sections within Scheduled Tribes may be more capable of accessing formal employment than particularly remote communities and PVTGs.
  4. Unemployment is structurally wider: Tribal unemployment and underemployment are also linked to:
  • land alienation;
  • displacement;
  • decline of forest livelihoods;
  • poor regional development;
  • seasonal employment.

Job reservation alone cannot resolve these structural causes.

Wider social impact

Reservation has nevertheless altered the relationship between tribe and occupation by facilitating movement from:

Subsistence/Manual occupations → Education → Salaried employment → Professional diversification

It has also strengthened awareness of constitutional rights and participation in modern institutions.

Measures for greater effectiveness

Job reservation should be complemented by:

  • quality school education;
  • residential and higher-education support;
  • vocational and technical training;
  • coaching and career guidance;
  • filling of backlog vacancies;
  • development of livelihood opportunities within tribal regions.

Conclusion

Job reservation has significantly promoted formal-sector representation and upward mobility among Scheduled Tribes, but its capacity to eliminate tribal unemployment is inherently limited. Effective employment policy must combine reservation with education, skill development, livelihood security and regionally balanced development.

2026 Write an account on the contribution of Verrier Elwin in developing policies for the tribal populations in post-independent India. 2026 Article 371A of the Indian Constitution. 2026 Discuss the impact of democratic institutions on the tribal populations of India. 2026 Write an account on Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST).

Want feedback on your answer?

Join the Anthropology workshop or get structured answer-writing guidance from VAID ICS.

Join Workshop Contact VAID ICS

UPSC Anthropology Optional 2020 — Paper II

28 questions

1(e) 'Khap' Panchayat

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 5.1 Indian Village > Traditional village institutions
2020Paper IIVillage India, Urbanisation & Social ChangeModel answer available

5(b) 'Narmada' Man

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 1.2 Palaeo-anthropological evidences from India > Narmada Man
2020Paper IIPrehistoric ArchaeologyModel answer available

5(c) Concept of 'Dominant' caste

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 3.2 Caste system in India > Dominant caste
2020Paper IIIndian Society, Caste & CivilizationAnswer coming soon

5(e) Concept of Ethnicity

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 7.3 The concept of ethnicity
2020Paper IIEthnicity, Tribal Movements & Social ChangeModel answer available

5(a) Concept of Sanskritisation

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 5.3 Indigenous and exogenous processes of socio-cultural change > Sanskritization
2020Paper IIVillage India, Urbanisation & Social ChangeModel answer available

1(b) Debates on 'Aryan' invasion

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 1.1 Evolution of Indian Culture and Civilization > Post-Harappan cultures > Aryan debate
2020Paper IIPrehistoric ArchaeologyModel answer available

1(d) Dravidian languages

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 2. Demographic profile of India > Linguistic elements > Dravidian family
2020Paper IIIndian Society, Caste & CivilizationModel answer available

5(d) Linguistic minorities in India

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 5.2 Linguistic and religious minorities and their social, political and economic status
2020Paper IIIndian Society, Caste & CivilizationModel answer available