Reservations- A Nation Divide
--> Posted on 2009-08-06 02:33:21 ByTHE reservation of seats in higher educational institutions has again has again set on role the division of the nation. Whether former Prime Minister V.P. Singh and his Mandalisation or now Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh, some politicians will not hesitate to dismantle a perfectly viable and working system for the sake of vote banks. With opening another innings of mandal in order to lure vote bank, our politicians have vet again placed the nation on the cutting edge.
Clearly, the new proposal will be at the cost of the general category. All we have done so far is to make the backward classes more dependent on quotas, created a caste divide and encouraged mutual rancour and mediocrity. What a nation is we intending to build? When at this time, India is planning missions to moon; the reservation issue will only hold the country’s desire for progress. What kind of doctors and engineers are we producing? It is time for excellence and not mediocrity.
Perhaps the biggest question exercising the minds of many is that for whom these quotas are meant for and why? In the present scenario, seven out of 10 people ever enrolled do not complete schooling and drop out before attaining secondary levels (NSS survey, 2000-01). Amid a creaky, crumbling system of basic education that enables only 4-5 per cent of SCs and less than 4 per cent of STs to cross Class XII, quotas in higher education could smack of only vote bank politics!
No doubt, the Dalits faced discrimination, but for few hundred years only. For 200 years, it was the British who ruled the country and their rule was the same for all Indians. Prior to that, it was Muslim rule for 750 years and everyone bore the brunt. And if one goes back even further, most rulers were Buddhists or from the backward castes. That leaves only a few hundred years, when the high or upper castes had all the openings as temple priests and common soldiers while the middle castes had land and money.
The Dalits should now be prepared to assume their rightful positions with dignity and respect by competing on the basis of merit. Merit alone can give them that respect which they cannot get on the basis of reservation — be it in the IAS or in elite educational institutions.
Whatever the governments — at the Centre and in the states — might say, merit is bound to be a casualty when seats and jobs are reserved on the basis of caste or any other criteria. Merit should be the only criteria for admission and jobs and reservation on the basis of domicile, sport or institution need to be dispensed with gradually for justice, equity and fairplay.
A sweetener added by the government is the increase in infrastructure to keep the general seats unaffected. With Rs 8,000 corer needed for the additional increase in facilities and faculty, where is the justification for enhancing mediocrity in place of excellence that should have been aimed at. Why is there such a hurry to implement new proposal by 2007?
It is very easy for the powers that be to whistle up a pro-reservation lobby, confuse the issue, and maintain that there is a divergence of opinion. But how will anyone be convinced that even the creamy layer that has been reaping the quota benefit for decades be offered another slice of the employment cake? Should the so-called social justice balancing overrule the imperative need for excellence in a profession where human lives are involved? Does equality in jobs imply dilution of professional standards and excellence?
About CQ - Editorial Board - Be Our Partners - Terms Of Use - Privacy Policy - Contact Us
