Affirmative Action

Comment on Affirmative action. UPSC 2016 Paper 1A Qn 1c, UPSC 2021 Paper 1A Qn 1b

Affirmative action aims to address historical and systematic inequalities. It institutes positive discrimination to prevent or counteract traditional prejudicial practices. 

The motive is to reverse the historical trends of discrimination and to create equality of opportunity for qualified persons. It aims to restructure society through the elimination of culturally sanctioned strategies that defend racial/gender superiority and pride of position.

Affirmative action is any measure, policy, or law used to increase diversity or rectify discrimination so that qualified individuals have equal access to employment, education, business, and contracting opportunities.

Justification for Affirmative action -

As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals." Here, arises the need for such positive discrimination which would make humanity more humane and progressive.

In the Greek language, the word equality means justice. To be just is to be equal and to be unjust is to be unequal. According to Aristotle, equality means that things that are alike should be treated alike and unalike things should be treated unalike. The injustice arises when equals are treated unequally and also when unequal are treated equally.

According to Rawls, to treat all persons equally and to provide genuine equality of opportunity, society must give more attention to those born into or placed in less favorable social positions. Affirmative action was established as a part of society's efforts to address continuing problems of discrimination.

Merit argument - The meritorian principle dictates that social goods should be allotted based on one's merit or ability, whether natural or acquired. It envisages that candidates be selected based on their individual merit. Supporters of this principle claim that it assures the best justice in so far as it allocates the rewards or goods based on an objective criterion ignoring personal characteristics of an individual such as birth, race, color, sex, caste, etc.

The three key elements that affirmative action is hailed for is its nature of being proactive, outcome-based, and progressing towards a precise goal.

 //In the USA, the concept of the 'disadvantaged and the need for affirmative action' emerged in the 1960s as a result of efforts by the Civil Rights Movement to get America to honor its original contract, that 'all are created equal'. This idealism is a promise of equal opportunity for all individuals regardless of color, national origin, race, religion, and sex.


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