One of the biggest problem in India is, we still call those
people under reservation as underprivileged. I am no opponent to reservations.
But, this single statement forces us to introspect over an uncomfortable truth
– even after seventy years of reservations, people are still deemed
underprivileged. There is only one logical conclusion for this – our
reservation policy is a failure. Any policy which didn’t succeed need not be
upheld all eternity in the hope that it will succeed one day. A failure like that
should be scrapped off completely and replaced with something else. The other
may fail or succeed, but the existing one should go.
Let’s take the Patidar agitation in Gujarat. One single
statement sums up the complete movement.
My son did diploma in
engineering, but couldn’t get a good job. He now runs his own shop but the
earning is not good enough. Had I belonged to OBC category, things would have
been different.
Are we saying that because someone didn’t read properly and
excel in life, he should be provided reservations? This statement, not just
defines the Patidar Movement, but the complete concept of reservation. It is
being treated as a privileged shortcut to get facilities which in an open
competition, can never achieve. This notes another major danger – the ganging
up of a caste to form a close knit group, which can be used by as a potential
vote bank by any interested political party. Obverse, political opportunists or
persons with agendas can any day bribe a potent caste grouping by reservations
and in turn, widen the social fault lines or even, create potential law and
order problems toppling governments. Mandal agitation is but an example of how
worse things can turn.
Keeping the opportunism(which is applicable not just for
reservations but for any regional groupings like the Assam Student Agitation,
Mulki Movement of 1969 etc) aside, below are some of the inherent fallacies of
reservation model we have got –
1.
Does a poor Brahmin boy coming to his
counselling in torn slippers need reservations more or a reserved quota
candidate coming in a Benz or Rolls Royce?
2.
If a father avails reservation, why should his
son be eligible for it? After all, reservations is an opportunity to excel, not
a privilege and show off. His father has been given a chance to excel. If his
father is a failure and if his son is desperately in need of reservation, why
should the government be responsible for the failure of an individual? After
all, there are many other people desperately waiting for reservations
3.
Should creamy layer have reservations? What is
the definition of creamy layer?
Besides all this, we see a selective application of
reservations – no reservations in judiciary, army, ambassadorial posts or Chief
Minister posts, for example.
Looking at them, we notice one thing – reservation for caste
or reservation for social position? Though this is a very big cesspool to talk
about, there are a few guidelines we can have in order to have this to succeed
–
1.
If either of the parent avails reservation, the
child cannot.
2.
Anyone in the creamy layer in the past three
generations cannot avail reservations
3.
Upper Caste Economically Backward need not be
provided any reservations. That will only rankle the rest.
4.
What are the guidelines to define a caste as
backward, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes? What is the mechanism to add
extra castes or remove castes from a quota?
5.
Creamy Layer shouldn’t be defined as an absolute
number but should be, say, 3 times India’s per capita.
6.
Reservation should only for education, not for
jobs. After all, the government has provided sufficient facilities for their
uplift and they should attempt to prove themselves in open competition.
7.
No reservations for electoral constituencies.
After all, the MP is supposed to represent all the people, even those who
didn’t vote them.
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