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41 Answers
Malay Gameti

There are many countries which has affirmative action for certain communities i.e USA, China, Russia, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Canada to name a few. And yeah India is such a great nation which takes care of their indigenous tribals and downtrodden communities.

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​Reservation of SC/ST are part of affirmative actions which are in existence since 1932, while OBC reservation is just added policy which provides equality measures in government jobs and education to certain communities with certain fix income criteria and it was implemented only after 1980.

Now talking of affirmative action we look at which country provides what equality measures to which communities.

India
In India affirmative actions are provided to Dalits and Adivasis who are termed as Schedule caste and Schedule Tribe.

  • Reservation : Allows for positive measures to be taken in allotment of government jobs and public universities to people belonging to SC and ST community.
  • Atrocity act. : Article 17 provides protection measures to SC/ST people so that they are not discriminated more.

United States of America

  • Affirmative actions : It provides employment equality and proper representation in education to Blacks, Hispanic and American Indian (Native tribals) further this policy also applies to private sector where the US govt. suggests that "When a private company sells more than $50,000 in products or services to the federal government and employs at least 50 workers, it must develop a written affirmative action plan, or AAP."
  • Preventive measures : Discrimination on the basis of color, creed, religion or place of birth of an individual is unlawful

Canada

  • Certain seats reserved for Aboriginal Indians (Canadian tribals), women's and physical disabled people in Public sector and college. The allotments of seats whereas from 6% to 45% in various departments and it further changes state by state.
  • Atrocity Act : The tribals are prevented of their properties and tradition. Further are given righteous in land, forest and other natural resources.

Japan

  • Buramukin and Koreans are given first preference to government jobs and government suggest to have atleast 5% of Buramukin and ethnic minorities to private companies which has more than 500 employees further government provides low rate personal loans, free education to any school or college, and some relief in taxes.

China

  • Tribals and certain ethnic communities who consist 8% of total chinese population are provided lower qualification requirements than majority in every public sector jobs and education institutions. While they are provided with scholarships and/or pay no tuition, and are granted a monthly stipend.
  • Tribals and ethnic minorities are exempted from some central policies like Child policy and certain aid is given by deduction in taxes and region autonomous status.

I can further go on and on to write about how different countries provides equal rights to their minorities, downtrodden communities and Tribals in different manner. Thus, its not only India.

Now in India Dalits are not given compulsory priority in private sector like US and Japan neither tribals are exempted from taxes and righteous to Jal, Jungle and Jamin like Canada and China. Neither SC/ST are provided free aid and housing like China and Japan. Thus, theirs nothing faulty in SC/ST reservation rather its hatred of General whom are unable to see Dalits and Tribals becoming somewhat equal by affirmative action rights which are provided to them and i am not generalising every uppercaste here but the one who loves to bark about reservation in midst of their hatred towards SC/ST.

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Christopher VanLang
As Sam Roberts mentioned, Castes are unique to India. However, reservation systems to assist people of certain backgrounds are numerous. See Affirmative action

The principle of equality sometimes requires States parties to take affirmative action in order to diminish or eliminate conditions which cause or help to perpetuate discrimination prohibited by the Covenant.
  • Canada has Employment equity (Canada) which affects aboriginals and minorities
  • China reserves positions for ethnic minorities and women
  • Finland has quotas for Swedish speakers
  • Germany has quotas in their Gymnasium system
  • Israel has affirmative action
  • Japan has policies to help the Burakumin, who are considered the outcaste group of Japan.
  • Macedonia has quotas for Albanians
  • Malaysia has the Malaysian New Economic Policy
  • New Zealand has affirmative action for Maoris and Polynesians
  • Norway requires 40% of the PCLs boards to be women.
  • Romania has quotas for Romas
  • South Africa has Employment Equity
  • South Korea has affirmative action for Chinese and North Koreans
  • Sri Lanka has rules for Christians and Tamils
  • Sweden has general affirmative action
  • The United Kingdom has the Equality Act 2010
  • The United States has Affirmative Action

So no other country asides India has caste-based reservation.
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Is there any other country any time in history that has oppressed 876M people into poverty, illiteracy, ignorance - based on caste ? Has any such oppression lasted for 5000 years ?

No.
No other country* has done so much oppression to their own brethren for so long. So looking at other countries for ideas is futile.

Our cancer (of caste-system) is different of not only type, but size and spread.

Germany, Japan were bombed and wiped out in World War II - their industries turned to rubble and yet within 30-40 years they paid their debt and nursed themselves back into a developed, wealthy country. It has to do with the mind of people of the countries. They know they are capable - even after their defeats - it was their knowledge and belief that worked. Other countries that got independence around that time took longer to recover and develop.

The curse of the caste system is that it attacks this fundamental belief that all humans are equal and capable.  If there was any example for the power of an idea - this would be it. The idea of was so powerful that it put people into slavery for 5000 years - with out violence. They just planted the idea into the minds of people. The best mighty sword could do was 300 years. It is called "psychic servitude".

Animals were touched and cared for, humans shunned because of caste-system - untouchable, karmic punishment - so anything goes.

The system is self propagating, like a cancer. Oppressed parents passed on the thought through their children - did not require indoctrination any more. Saying "You cannot sit in a chair in front of them - what will you do in school - become a collector ?" to a 8 year old child does more damage than all the physical violence put together.

The cancer has affected 70% of the population in terms of size - driving them into poverty, illiteracy and ignorance by birth. One can discuss the french, russian and chinese revolutions as fight for equality of a large scale. It had genocide, forced labor and eviction. We are attempting a slow, peaceful transfer to egalitarian society - not a violent, transfer of power.

The cancer has spread to every part of India. Had it been a particular part, we can provide targeted treatment - creating a separate state and focused rehabilitation efforts. This cancer has spread to every village, town and city. Every effort to provide education is sucked up by the cancer. It is common in government schools to segregate kids by caste - make them sit in the back, sit separately for food/water, make them wash toilets and vessels, abuse them, make fun of their dress, caste-slurs. Psychic warfare on children damages their belief that they are equal and capable of education as anyone else. Exclusion by economic status - lowering quality of government schools while keeping the fees high for private schools, segregation in schools and sharing their marks in public forums - simply to demean and discourage them. 

There was this gentleman who proudly published the IIM cut-off for SC/ST students...
1. How would you feel if some one were to publish your family's economic status in a public forum ?  No matter how well you dress, conduct yourself, people will know your 'real status' ?
2. Posted a picture of you before getting dressed up ? Doesn't it affect your self-esteem ?
Shame on you... 
It is the sign of the cancer spreading its wings and covering the good cells trying to fight back the oppression.

We only see that they get reservations, not that they are discriminated in schools, denied quality education and motivation.  20 books and school fees are nothing - take them away.
Instead, build concrete schools with all-weather roads, with good quality teachers from 1st to 12th std, schools with benches, black boards, electricity, water, toilets, food, labs, computers in every dalit bastis, punish caste segregation in schools promptly - and then in 12 years ask for removal of reservations.

Don't let the cancer spread, fight the cancer with affirmative action and reservations. Let the good cells survive, protect them.

____________________
* There were other struggles for class equality in other countries that fought for equality - they are worth the study for the method adopted and effects

1. Sent-down youth, Down to the Countryside Movement in Chinese Cultural Revolution. ~ 200,000 people urban-educated forced to work in farms to learn simple living.
2. Khmer Rouge in Cambodia - Cambodian genocide ~1.5-3 million people died.
3. French Revolution - Reign of Terror ~ 40,000 people killed
4. Russian Revolution - Red Terror, Great Purge, Population transfer in the Soviet Union, Forced labor in the Soviet Union - estimated deaths 3M to 60M
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YesNo
This question is one of the most frequently asked questions about caste based reservation in India. As reply I post this video of a talk delivered by Prof. Hari Narke, who is a distinguished scholar, delivered at COEP recently. He answers precisely the most-FAQ about the Indian caste system and the reservations in government which are based on caste.

In short the main points are --
  1. Caste is the distinguishing feature of the Indian social order. The Western social order is based on class (or more simply financial condition). But in India, caste, class and gender intertwine to form a hierarchichal and fundamentally undemocratic social order. In the rural areas, home to most of the Indian population, caste and economics are very strongly intertwined.  Therefore, considering the pecularity of the problem to India, the Indian system of affirmative action cannot afford to ape the West if we want to bring in true democracy. It has to be based on caste.
  2. Reservation is not Garibi Hatao.
    In the Constituent Assembly Debates, it was decided that reservations should be based on caste and gender and not on financial condition because they were meant to counter 2000 years of social and educational exclusion. This  exclusion was applied to women as well, even in the `highest' castes.  There are other articles of the constitution which are dedicated to countering economic exclusion (such as Directive Principles) and they extend to all economically weak sections, irrespective of caste and gender. We tend to confuse the economic affirmative-action with the social affirmative action. (Because our education system failed to teach us our history and civics properly.) Thus, reservation is not Garibi Hatao, it is merely a foothold for the excluded and vulnerable.
  3. The `time limit' on reservation is conditional.
    First of all it is a fact (the speaker cites references) that Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly and the foremost political leader of Dalits) never proposed that there should be a 10 year time limit on reservation. That proposal was passed by a majority vote, with the Congress being the most enthusiastic about this time limit. Also there was also a resolution to achieve 100% literacy in 10 years and the removal of reservations was conditionally dependent on the removal of illiteracy. It is observed that those who clamour the most about the ten year limit for  reservations are silent about the removal of illiteracy.

I myself agree with these points but I want to add this --
 Firstly, there can be no end to the economic exploitation of Dalits (as a class and not as  Dalit individuals) without ending their social exclusion and therefore, as a foothold, reservation is absolutely necessary. An example - even in India's metropolitan  cities, the sweepers and sewer cleaners are mostly Dalit. Many of these are educated men and women but compelled into this job by social exclusion and sheer derth of jobs. (There is an unofficial, unwritten 95% reservation in sweeper jobs but no one makes objecting noises about this particular reservation).

Secondly-- (and Professor Narke only scratches  the tip of this particular iceberg in his talk) -- Reservation applies only to the Public Sector Jobs and to the Government Controlled Educational Institutes. Under the World-Bank/IMF Structural Adjustment Program (which our country was arm-twisted into accepting in 1991) -- also known as LPG (liberisation-privatisation-globalisation) the number of Government Jobs are being reduced by policy. Govt run institutes and companies (even very highly productive and profitable ones like LIC and IOCL) are being handed over to private corporations and reservation does not apply to the private sector. However, the data shows that since 1991, the standard of living of the Dalit masses has only become worse, in terms of education, employment opportunities and food security (among other things).
Thus, the Dalits and even OBCs have many miles to climb, but their footholds are being taken away by policy -- thus betraying the dreams of our Constitution.

We are all fighting about who gets a bigger piece of the cake -- while the cake itself is at risk of vanishing into the World Bank's belly. It's high time we wake up to this fact.
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I believe Yohann has covered most of the important points for the question. I would like add another point to the equation. One cannot equate the failure of the implementation of a system with the system itself. The Dalit politicians fighting for vote banks have failed to deliver (by either joining hands with the right-wing forces or stopping at progress as was convenient for them), and the majority of the Dalits still are fighting against horrible acts of injustice, aggression and violence.

Take a look at 1997 Ramabai Ambedkar Incident

Anand Patwardhan has made an excellent documentary, "Jay Bhim Comrade" around that incident while following the gathering Dalit movement, from its inception to its betrayal.



If you look up old archives and news articles (can't list all of them, but will try and include some), where brutal acts of burning, killing, human sacrifices have been inflicted on Dalits. And sadly, the police investigations in the matter show that the system itself is not being neutral in such matters.

Clearly, the Indian society is not at all ready to guarantee caste equality, thus making it necessary to enforce it through the legal/administrative system. I am of the opinion that making the administrative neutral is not going to coerce the society into doing so, on the contrary, it is going to make matters much more worse. There's a good chance we might head back to a societal structure as depicted by Jyotirao Phule in his book, Gulamgiri (Slavery- Gulamgiri : Jotirao Phule : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive.)

Some examples of incidents of violence on Dalits : 

1. Dalit girl burnt for identifying rapist
2. Dalit Woman Burnt to Death in Bihar for Refusing to Give Money
3. Dalit woman burnt to death in Firozabad
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I think ,there is not any other country in the world have the caste based reservation

but like U.S. has affirmative action.

Affirmative action in the United States tends to focus on issues such as education and employment, specifically granting special consideration to racial minorities, Native Americans, and women who have been historically excluded groups in America.

Fundamental differences

There are at least five fundamental differences:

1. The affirmative action program and the ensuing preferential treatment in the U.S. is applicable to women too, in addition to disadvantaged races and ethnicity . In India, reservation is based only on castes.

2. In the U.S., fixing quotas or awarding preferential extra points is not allowed. This is a crucial difference from the Indian scenario where quotas are fixed. The U.S. Supreme Court in two historical judgments upheld the concept of considering race a factor in choosing candidates but unequivocally deemed unlawful fixing quotas or granting extra points for the disadvantaged groups. In 1978, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 912 (1978), the Supreme Court ruled in favour of racial preference for disadvantaged groups but struck down as unlawful the University Medical School's policy of reserving 18 per cent of the seats. In 2003, as cited by V.K. Natraj ("The reservation debate: missing components," The Hindu, May 27), the Supreme Court upheld as lawful the University of Michigan's policy of racial preference in law school admissions (Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S.(2003)) because the programme furthered a compelling interest in obtaining "an educational benefit that flows from student body diversity." But it struck down as unlawful the university's policy of granting points based on race and ethnicity. Further, in the Presidential Directive issued to executive departments and agencies on July 19, 1995, the White House asked for elimination/reformation of any policy that (a) creates a quota; (b) creates preferences for unqualified individuals; (c) creates reverse discrimination; or (d) continues even after its equal opportunity purposes have been achieved.

3. In India, all political parties have been in favour of caste-based reservation. And constitutional amendments that are in contrast to judicial decisions have been made. In the U.S., judicial decisions serve as framework for implementing affirmative action policies.Further, in the U.S., individual states and university boards are free to legislate their own laws with respect to affirmative action in institutions that are within their scope. In 1995, Regents of the University of California voted to end affirmative action programmes on all its campuses. In 1996, California's Proposition 209 ended all public-sector affirmative action programmes in the state in employment, education and contracting though it permitted gender discrimination. In 2000, Florida banned affirmative action.

4. Another important difference is the requirement of institutions to "establish a process to review the effectiveness and fairness of affirmative action programmes on a continuing basis" - this requirement was communicated in the Presidential Directive dated July 19, 1995 as per the "decision in (1994) Adarand Constructors v. Pena (that) requires strict scrutiny of the justifications for, and provisions of, a broad range of existing race-based affirmative action programs ."

5. In the U.S., universities have taken upon themselves the onus of increasing the representation of disadvantaged groups (unlike universities in India where there is resistance). But even in the pre-2003 era when awarding preferential points was legal, U.S. universities usually awarded points only to as many individuals from disadvantaged groups as would be needed to beef up their population to their demographic proportion. For example, members from ethnic group A would be selected even if they scored lower SAT points but only if their open competition selection resulted in numbers lower than their population percentage. So if ethnic group A formed 9 per cent of the general population but formed only 4 per cent of the selected students, then SAT points for members of A were added in such a way that 5 per cent more students from A were selected.But in India, due to fixed quotas, people who belong to a reserved caste will get their reserved slots and also slots available in open competition.

source:- U.S. affirmative action & our reservation

some other countries have also some different quota but it is completely different from Indian reservation system.

Canada

  • Certain seats reserved for Aboriginal Indians (Canadian tribes ), women's and physical disabled people in Public sector and college. The allotments of seats whereas from 6% to 45% in various departments and it further changes state by state.
  • Atrocity Act : The tribals are prevented of their properties and tradition. Further are given righteous in land, forest and other natural resources.


Japan

  • Burakumin and Koreans are given first preference to government jobs and government suggest to have atleast 5% of Buramukin and ethnic minorities to private companies which has more than 500 employees further government provides low rate personal loans, free education to any school or college, and some relief in taxes.


China

  • Tribes  and certain ethnic communities who consist 8% of total Chinese population are provided lower qualification requirements than majority in every public sector jobs and education institutions. While they are provided with scholarships and/or pay no tuition, and are granted a monthly stipend.
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Nivesh Ram

What are others countries that have reservation systems like India?

No other country has reservation systems like India as we are the only country on earth where caste based discrimination exist.

Japan has castes, but are highly done away with after the meiji restoration.

Indian Castes and Feudal Japanese Classes

Japan's hidden caste of untouchables - BBC News

Other countries do have reservation system, but they ain’t anything like India, they are similar.

South Africa has racial reservation system :

South Africa introduces racial quotas for national team

Imposing racial quotas is a vital step forward for South African sport

Quotaism - Wikipedia

Malaysia has bhumiputra scheme : Bumiputera (Malaysia) - Wikipedia

Brazil also has reservation system based on race in public universities of Higher education

Quotaism - Wikipedia

Slavery's legacy

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Yamini Vijay Tendulkar
Do not have idea about other countries reservation system.
The reservation system if exists anywhere in globe more than its advantage it discriminates the people on basis of their human intellect and human rights for denial of equal opportunity and status in human society. And meritorious percentage in examinations or otherwise code of conducts in human lives stand to become redundant whether social, educational or professional sphere and Government jobs recruitment ever since there is reservation system dominates the meritorious lists.

Print Media The Times of India dated June 14, 2014, published on first page that reads as "Eye on Polls Maharashtra State, promises quota for Maratha's, 20% Qutoa.

And Union External Affairs Minister Mrs. Sushma Swaraj seeks support for women reservationHT Correspondent, published in Online Hindustan Times New Delhi, June 12, 2014.

I on behalf of our NGO/Trust,"Nari Samman Sanghathan Regd." wanna ask all the people concerned here that "Why should reservation be bestowed over the  Females and one should seek support, are the Females born handicapped?  People like Mrs. Sushma Swarajji's husband may be equally worthy of  earning....women like her should remain at home and passively  contribute to the Society as a gratitude than occupying the seat of  eligible male candidates in Politics, Government or any other  Professional Ladder.

 If there is crises in home only then  females be allowed and taken into employment whether Politics or  otherwise or else in other case for time pass, we shouldn't allocate  place for Women, they have no right to occupy the needy Male Positions  when they can stay at home financially well of Women instead it is very  sad that Women are begging for Reservations.

 The Brain Drain:  Indians who depart Nation for good do well up-country, overseas without  reservation and quota system to avail in the Western and Gulf World.

 Wikipedia: Present caste-based reservation system of Union Government
 Category as per Government of India Reservation Percentage as per Government of India
 Scheduled Castes (SC) 15%
 Scheduled Tribes (ST) 7.5%
 Other Backward Classes (OBC) 27%
 Total constitutional reservation percentage 49.5%
 General (Open to all including SC/ST and OBC) 50.5%

 Imagine balance Out of 50.5% now Women are demanding to avail 33%  reservation thus after this bill is passed political, social and  economical condition of women is expected to improve drastically as a  result they say...I would reservation is basic cause all calamities  other than natural in Republic India.

 Merits will breed Merits  and or demerits will breed demerits in all the human activities  especially where reservations and quota given all preferences.
 Merit  means "The quality of being particularly good or worthy, especially so  as to deserve praise or reward". Reservation means just the opposite.

 In Republic India Reservations and Quota system is a constant alarming  buzzwords for all kinds of demerits to prevail in Indian Human Society.
Sushma Swaraj seeks support for women reservation - Hindustan Times
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