Anti and pro-reservation protests and debates have right now caught the imagination of the entire country. The whole nation is divided indeed in seemingly two irreconcilable camps, opposing or supporting reservation in higher education. The people on both sides of the divide know just one thing: to score debating points against the opponent. No sincere effort has been made by either side to understand the problems of the other side in an objective and dispassionate manner. As a result we see partisan and argumentative conversations all over. The anti-reservation elements say that they want merit and equality of opportunity to prevail. The supporters of reservation, on the other hand, say that such arguments are nothing but a ploy to keep them backward in every sphere of life.
No doubt the constitution visualizes an India that offers equality of opportunity to all its citizens. But that very constitution also provides for reservation for some marginalized sections of the society. Once marginality, historical or otherwise, was accepted as the criterion for reservation, it was just natural that the left-out marginalized groups will also demand the same treatment for themselves. As the OBCs took their time to rise, the issue of reservation for them remained dormant for a while after independence. But any perspective observer would have seen it coming some three decades ago when the Janata Party had come to power at the centre with strong support from the OBCs.
Today the other Backward Classes are not only alive but also demanding, even threatening. The OBC leadership is also alive and ready to do what ever is required to fulfil the dreams of the classes they belong to. This is a scenario that no government or political outfit can dare to ignore. This explains why the Manmohan Government has decided to implement the OBC reservation from the academic session 2007-08 ignoring the vociferous protests of the anti-reservation elements.
The wisest strategy for the general category students would be not to oppose reservation but ask for more space for merit to survive, if not flourish. The government, too, is thinking on these very lines but is facing resource crunch. Increasing general category seats would not be easy as the present infrastructure, physical as well as human, is not sufficient, and to create it in a year time would require huge funds which the government would find difficult to manage.
But we leave it to the government to solve the problem which is its prime duty. Let us discuss the fallout of the reservation. It is no secret that the general category students usually outshine the SCs and the STs. The reason is that we have not set up a minimum marks limit that reserved category students must score in order to get admission in specialized courses. This, on the one hand, will encourage reserved category students to work harder and excell along with others and, on the other, would save merit from being plagued with perpetual decline.
There are three other issues that the country’s intelligentia as well as its political leadership must address sooner than later. First, it is a well-known fact that only few castes of the scheduled category have so far benefited from reservations. Steps, whatever they might be, must be taken to benefit the most marginalized of the marginalized, and it needs to be done before they, too, rise in protest. Such a policy may be adopted for the OBC quota from the very beginning.
The second issue relates to the poor among the so called forward classes. Many people of this class were poor at the time independence and many well to do of the past have become poor due to a variety of reasons. The last point specially applies to the Muslim citizens of the country. If deprivation and marginalization are the sole criteria for making reservation for backward classes, why the same yardstick should not be applied to benefit the poor among the forward classes.
The last issue concerns the Indian Muslims. It is an open secret that they have been discriminated against after independence. Their present condiction is pathetic indeed. They are tired of promises being made to them ever since independence. The time has come to stop treating Muslims as a mere vote bank and do something concrete for their all round development. If reservation is panacea for the poverty of others why it can not be applied to treat the malaise of poverty and deprivation afflicting the Muslim community all over the country.
[May, 2006]
No comments:
Post a Comment