Its quite sometime that debate is active over ‘reservation for OBC in premier institutes’. If we look at opinion polls by different media we can see that, majority condemns this movement by government very strongly. HRD minister Mr. Arjun singh took a safer side saying PMO is very well aware of the decision and it’s from there, not me who is responsible for this. We very well understand your concerns Mr. Minister. A clear sign we can see at present is Govt. is planning go ahead with the decision.
Is this reservation funda, a big non sense? I don’t think so. A less privileged class has to come up; they need exposure or opportunity for that. That was the thought behind it, when Dr. Ambedkar proposed this concept. Its quite a long time after independence now, but still reservation system is very much alive. It clearly tells you that, the idea is not working out very well or ‘Politicians’ are not dare to stop this being afraid of the majority(read vote bank) in the country.
Now let’s come more close to premier institutes. Getting into IITs/IIMs is not kids play. You gotta be really competitative. But to be competitive you need to get exposure that’s how people raise their bar. People who have got strong basic education and good exposure really dominate when it comes to JEE or CAT. Are we giving this kinda strong foundation or exposure in Villages? An Absolute strong NO. If we don’t give them enough opportunity how will they come up? Concept of reservation holds good here. One of my friend who had done his studies till 12 Th in a remote village got admission to a good engg. college in Kerala thru OBC quota. You belive it or not, he stood top through out engg.and secured first rank in university. Is it not a very valid example for ‘If you are giving opportunity to people’ they come up really well? I know, there are people raising their eye brows saying this is one odd case. Now look at Globalization arena, if we don’t have trade regulations and rules in India, will not this experienced foreign big players swallow our system. Regulation/reservation is a sensible concept to an extent.
What is happening to our IIT/IIM grads, it’s true that good education is accessible thru good money from basic education till 10+2. They are the front runners for IIT/IIMs, no doubt about that. The same money factor or better opportunites is leading them to go abroad and settle down there. Who can stop this? No one. I think to an extent this can be stopped by giving opportunity to less privilaged. Another concern is about the quality or the brand of Premier school grads if best students are not admitted. Definitely a big concern, if you implement reservation, how to take care of this is a genuine concern. A very valid threshold cut off for the reserved category is my answer.
Another argument against reservation, there are well off people still getting the benefit of reservation. I agree to that, definitely some quality measures are to be taken at least for the premier institutes. Another concern of loosing out deserved candidates over reserved ones; it’s the cost of not having well placed and efficient basic education system.
Some proposals for implementation…
Best solution: Ensure the access to quality education for all class of people as early as from basic education and scrap the reservation system for premier institutes. Scrap the system where more you pay more you get in basic education system. Easy said than done, a big thought and movement need to be done for this.
Some practical solutions…
1. Increase the number of premier institutes
2. Decrease the percentage of reservation
3. Merge the seats of reserved category to general list, if students do not meet threshold criteria.
Last but not the least, a request to the government. Look at the data of post independence. See, where this reservation system is leading us. We believe in empowered nation, where people have equal access to basic facilities and equal opportunities. Let the best people come out and lead us from the front. Shed these petty tricks for keeping the vote bank stable. Convince people what is the need of going ahead with the reservation system. No hide and seek please….
Posts
11 comments:
Testing !
Laji,
Your thinking right and the thoughts translated into words. Well on the reservation issue my thoughts are simlar to yours. Reservation in the last 50 years has not helped anybody.Rather it has reiterated that class system still exists and is here to stayin the Indian society.
However the government is right in one aspect of its thought - that education for all is what can bring us all on the same platform.So, why not make primary education free for all.
What do u say???
I think you identified the problem correctly, however the solution you suggest is going to serve another purpose. Meaning thereby, the villages are under-privileged.. right..but what connection does have to have with caste. Can't there be open category candidates in villages? Isn't it unfair on their part that they being under-privileged cant get into any good institutes simply because they aren't born in a lower caste. So what I think is, the reservation system if at all has to be there has to be based on geographical origin and also subject to proof that the candidate is under-privileged(i.e. some minimum no of years have to be spent in under-privileged area or something alike that can ensure eligibility). But certainly, caste/gender based reservation is not the solution.
Akshya,
The media outrage against reservation really troubles me. Especially from
TOI. It sounds like there is something working behind them. Since the reading community of these English news paper is educated people (majority general class), they write what readers want to read. Instead of putting across valid points, petty blackmailing is more highlighted. Common India dikaahdo.
Vishal..
I owe these lines to another blogger kannan udayarajan
"If the shudra intentionally listens for committing to memory the veda, then his ears should be filled with molten lead and lac;
if he utters the veda, then his tongue should be cut off; if he has mastered the veda his body should be cut to pieces."
XII. 4. Manusmriti
We cannot just neglect, what history has done to the less privileged that too long 2000 years not 50. I am not promoting 'reservation system'. Even if we implement Free and the best basic education, there will be a generation who has already missed this. There you need to give reservation, maybe for next 15 years. Just free education will also not serve the purpose, those need to be residential schools then these kids will not be influenced or get diverted by the 'hostile home'
The only reservation that India needs is "economic reservation".
The arguments put forth by the original blogger and the commentors all point to economics in some form.
My counter argument. A brilliant Brahmin boy from a poor brahmin family may not get into IIT cause he did not get an opportunity to write mock JEEs.
Should he be punished for the fault of Manu ? If so, we are no better than Manu and Manuvadis.
Any reservation based on caste is still a remnant of Manuvadi thinking and does not bode good for Indian society.
I agree with 'Anon' completely.
Also one must bear in mind that in order to excel in a particular area, we have to increase competition in that area by making evaluation and eligibility based on merit. Most of the government services have reservations today, and we know what state are they into. The private sector has shown competition and has been excelling by miles in comparison to the govt. systems. Had it not been the case, the govt. itself would never have felt the need for privatisation. In short, we are being faced by the question, "Are we ready to compromise on competence for the sake of justice?". If yes, the open category candidates will definitely look for systems/govt.s that do justice to their abilities. No wonder if in 10 years we find more brahmins in US/UK than in India.
If no, then we have to be ready to face the mass that feels they are being dealt with in an unjust fashion.
The choice, unfortunately doesnot rest with us as of now. Simply sit and watch is the answer.
Hope u guys can spend sometime reading
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20060424&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=1
It’s the success stories of some students who got the admission thru quota system and how they performed later in their life. And I am sure their children do not need any reservation to uplift them. In the whole media hoopla (especially TOI) we are missing out the people in need. My argument is not that, all general caste people are rich. Think of whether you can implement "Economy based reservation", is it really practical?
If you give opportunity to people they will come up. That’s one way we can eradicate the threat of an imbalanced society. That’s why 'compassionate socialism' holds well in this current social system. I don’t support any system which deny justice to a particular community whether its General class or backward class; If the statistics reveals that, general class is more poor than backward class then there is something serious thought to be applied in that direction. Frankly, I don’t think that’s the case in India. But we gotta go with the data.
If we can provide standard basic education system to every one (Irrespective of class), that’s my dream come true. NO RICH AND POOR DISCRIMINATION FOR EDUCATION. The whole point converges there. Brain and thoughts does not understand whether you are Brahmin or shudra. Every one has to prove their competency in this world to survive. If any one thinking that, shudras are born with a less active brain, I have no words to keep them on.
laji u have done a splendid job.
here i would like to inform everyone who commeneted from dear akshay to Mr.Vishal. Boss as person working inmedia one fact u should all know .
the fact which scrap paper sellers like TOI have succeeded in from getting public attention. as a fact of matters MR. arjun himself proposed an alternative to the reducing general category seats. the laternative is let us increase the total number of intake in all these institutions. it is very much possible as all these intstituions are well of and are well equiped to do so. so that the totasl number of general category seats are intact but all bastards in the commission except for jayathi gosh opposed this proposal. as they all wanted some poltical gains and there history suggests that they are all anti reservations. as an anony said economy based reservations are th final solution definately there is no arguement against it. but not when even around cities like hyderabad caste discrimination and untouchability is at its peak even to date. the fellows who instigated these anti reservaion movement will not allow even the economy based reservations to go with out creating troubles. that is there class nature.
there is another clarification i would like to give to akshays comment there is lot of difference between class society and caste society they are entirely two different entities. so what u mentioned is it about class or caste.
I feel so happy to see some different voices..after all any debate acquires its whole meaning and purpose only when there is diversity of opinion.
But Im sad that the issue of reservation became an issue for debate in the first place.
It should have been something which should have been proactively looked into and implemented.The reason?
Here is a Human Rights website and a the Country study of India done by US department of Army that gives the recent picture of caste system in India
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/caste/presskit.htm
http://countrystudies.us/india/89.htm
It shows how bad the situation is..
But I thik the striking medicos should understand the following:
1. The biggest thing is not about paying back for what ancestors have done, it is about the future of the nation. How can India progress when majority
of its population is not represented any where in the mainstream? In America, Afro Americans are the minority, but lower class is the majority in
India.India need to have many more IIT and IIMs... is 6 institutions enough for India? In the US for a comparatively small population there are a huge number of premium institutions. Government need to strengthen the basic education system and educate the public about reservation.
2. People may profess not to believe in caste or creed (this is good), but the hard reality of life is that being denied education for centuries have
created classes now. Two classes, one with the intellectual equity and other without it.
4. Another fact is that caste system in its original form is still very much practiced in India; in very subtle ways in urban areas, and in more obvious
ways in rural area. There has been discrimination against the lower castes even when they get a government job based on merit too. Statistically the biggest complaint in the government sector has been people of lower castes
denied promotion on the basis of caste (there are many ways of
discrimination, it need not be as blatant as avoiding someone as
untouchable).
For example you or I may not believe in female foeticide or dowry deaths or
even asking for dowry...but it is not true to say that none of this is practiced in India today. To quote a famous writer "India exists simultaneously in many centuries". We are in the 21st century; most of the
India is behind by couple of centuries
5. The original aim of the reservation policy is not about "reverse
discrimination " but upliftment of the lower classes.
And moreover I do beleive that India(especially the north) will need to have atleast 200 years of evolution to have a mature debate/thought on this.The situation( caste equations and discriminations) as you and I know is very bad in the villages and rural areas.
Im sure this debate will go on and on in India...since there will be people on both sides to argue,fight and die.
PSIm a little late in reading this article and commenting on it,but I guess that doesn't count as the significance of the article is something which is going to saty for sometime.
well is true that iipm degree is fraud??as claimed by IIPM MBA Fraud degree IIPM MBa fraud degree
Post a Comment