Hehe, finally one on reservations too! Sometimes this blog idea sounds pretty fool given that the Supreme Court orders have already diminished the flames by quite a good amount (at least as of last two days). I may also be alien to many subtleties and concepts related to reservation for I don’t read newspapers much, but I think I have something to write which would be new, at least for a few.
Till I attended a course on Urban Sociology in my fourth year, I always thought that the fundamental behind Reservations is the lack of monetary capacity on the part of most people from SC and ST. But the course gave another dimension to the whole problem, which dates many centuries back.
A large part of Indian history has seen people divided into four sects: Brahmin, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Everyone had their golden times; everyone but Shudras (as my papa fondly says, today is the time of Vaishyas – everyone is a businessman and everyone except a few has eyes on money only). Oppressed and denied of education, military, business or any other form of training. Oppressed for centuries.
And this oppression and denial have created a general lack of capabilities in their posterity. No doubt that these people continued with their traditional works and mastered in those skills (say goldsmiths, blacksmiths, cobblers etc.) but society denied them other opportunities. And this has created a difference that will take generations of reservations to overcome.
Reservation according to income level doesn’t make any sense to me now. Rather, a good scholarship system can be introduced for the poor who can make it to good academic institutions. So Reservations is about giving the oppressed an opportunity to equalize with the general people. Or in the Humanities & Social Science jargon, it is about creating a level-playing field.
When India got its independence, Sardar Patel (or was it Dr. Ambedkar, not sure) was the first person to introduce this concept and that too only in Parliament on a trial basis of 10 years. But then these 10 years always extended into another 10 years and the process has established a permanent place for these people in the Parliament. In the meantime, out of the same reasoning or the ‘vote politics’, reservations permeated and made their way into other institutions too. Worse started happening with more and more castes trying to get an SC or ST status. And many a times the status was given to wrong castes and identified too. But then this is India and once given, the government can only wager elections to snatch that status back.
So as far as I understand, Reservations is about giving them a head start, a 10m head start in the 100m race (in fact comparing the cut-offs for general and reserved castes in exams like IIT-JEE/CAT, it is a head start of 30-50m). I’ll take up some prominent issues one by one now and will try to make way to my conclusion:
1. 27% Reservations for OBC: As I already said, it is not possible for the government (or rather they won’t do it) to take back any SC or ST out of the reservation quota. OBCs, no doubt are backwards too so they too should be given an opportunity, but is it fair to give 5 people such a big head start in the race of 10? I doubt it. And even then, the start you give them is something to be decided because even Carl Lewis can’t expect to win a race against me if he were to give me a start of say 70m).
2. Purpose: It would be a cliché, but I’ll cover it nevertheless. An issue that will add good bulk of votes in the coming state elections and the next parliamentary too. And then it’s a situation of stalemate for other parties; they have to accept and sing in tune with Congress (and as my dad says, two bills always pass in the Parliament without any opposition – one is on introducing/increasing Reservation and the other is an increase in salaries of MPs).
3. Meritocracy: Many people argue that Reservations defy merit. True indeed but my dear ones, there were times when our forefathers suppressed them and it’s time they come back equal. Of course, we may logically deny taking burden of their faults, but tell me – if you were born in an OBC family, what would be your point of view. I don’t need to highlight the importance of equality and this is but an attempt to establish the same, though with vile purposes.
4. Reservations till eternity?: I always think that it will take the oppressed many generations to come to the same mental development level that the general caste people enjoy (no offense to the oppressed but I’ve seen the trend in results at IIT Bombay itself). So we have to take some burden of the mistakes of our forefathers, but we can’t expect to be oppressed throughout our lifetime. A man generally sees 3-5 generations in his lifetime and an attempt should be made so as Reservations don’t affect his observations of all these generations. Some policy has to be devised which assures this – may be no reservation for the posterity of parent(s) who already has enjoyed benefits of Reservations. May be something else if someone has better suggestions.
5. Reservations in Promotions too: Now this is height. You’ve been given an opportunity as good as a general caste person and now its high time you prove your mettle and lessen the difference marked by generations we talked above with hard work. Fundamentally too, it is unreasonable to promote a less deserving person over a more deserving one and let him boss around the latter. This is like giving a 50m head start to all 4 members of the team in a 4*100m race. You get the head all the time. Pathetic!
6. Private Organisations: They are the ones who will talk the most about meritocracy if attempts are made to enforce reservations there. And probably they are correct too because though these organizations have some responsibility towards the development and improvement of the society, they can’t afford to loose many millions and billions and many clients (including global) just for this sake.
I’ve talked about logics, profits and numbers. Finally, I would just like to consider the human side of it. Every one of us is selfish – the politicians are looking their vote interest, we are saving our ass and of course OBCs want this once it is announced. But we have to be wise, we have to be considerate. One can always deny reservation but I’ve always felt that ‘walking in other person’s shoes’ is very important. It is important because some people are in ditches and they need someone’s hand to come out. It can be a general’s, SC’s, ST’s or OBC’s but hand it has to be for the ditches are too deep in some cases. What if I or another general person were in those ditches? We would just be praying for some help as they are doing now. At the same time, I can’t pull that person out and allow him throw me into that ditch.
These matters are all subjective and some wise people can help bringing a balance for both sides, and it is possible. Only one thing is required. These people work with a purpose that is good, that is sacred, one that is good for the overall development of the nation and world as a whole. And if they work selflessly, it will just be left for the people to accept and follow rather than create more hurdles in the working of the country.
