Question

Does protective discrimination violate principles of fairness

Answer 1

Protective discrimination:

Basically refers to the policy of granting special privileges to the the underprivileged sections of society,like women.

This is mainly experienced in US and India. Places like those; where there has been a history of racial and caste discrimination.

This practice is most prominent in India, embedded in the constitution.

This type of discrimination came into place for the sake of protection of those rights of those people who were treated in a different way due to discrimination existing in the society. This was due to color, caste and religion and in a country like India caste system prevails, to a great extent. Thus the protection of some was needed:-

For instance:-

Some of the constitutional provisions which aimed at positive discrimination are:

1- Article 17: Abolition of “untouchability” and making its practice in any form a punishable offence.

2- Article 46: Promotion of educational and economic interests.

3- Article 16 and 335: Preferential treatment in matters of employment in public services.

4- No. 330 and 332: Reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies

This all allows positive nature of this practice. So I don't believe that fairness is compromised in any way.  

Answer 2

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Protective Discrimination: In the contemporary debates about equality, we do not talk of legal equality only in the sense of equality of opportunity but also ‘equality of conditions’ and ‘equality of outcome or results.

Since the son of a millionaire and the son of a laborer do not get equal opportunities, justice as fairness demands that the social environment must be changed if equal start for every one is to be provided. This can be achieved only through collective action. Also the ‘equality before law’ and ‘equal protection of law’ demand that everyone, should not be treated alike.