POLITICAL DIARY
New Delhi, 12 April 2008
OBCs Join Study
Quota
HOW DO WE SPELL
MERIT?
By Poonam I Kaushish
Ever wonder why the champions of Reservation Raj, our
politicos don’t ever talk about reserving 50 per cent seats in Parliament and
the State Legislatures for the SCs, STs and OBCs? Why stop at that. How about
having at least 27 per cent reserved ministerial posts? The answer? Our netagan simply don’t want to slice
their cake. After all, politics is all about conning the electorate, skimming
their votes with ‘feel good’ populism and sound bites. Failing to realize that
a time may come when the move could boomerang.
Clearly, the landmark judgment by the Five-judge
Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balkrishna, upholding 27 per cent
quota for other backward classes (OBCs) in Central Government institutions of
higher education has done a fine balancing act between the anti-reservation
lobby and the pro-reservation politicos by playing both ends against the
middle. Leaving both disgruntled.
Our caste crazy netagan
who have built their career edifice by practising Backward politics, are
livid that the “creamy layer” among the OBCs (their brood, children of judges, Class I and II babus et al and those earning Rs 2.5 lakh annually) have been
excluded from deriving the benefits of such reservation. Three judges were also
against extending the benefits of reservation beyond graduation level. If this
interpretation stays, the OBCs will not get reservation in either the IIMs,
AIIMS or in other postgraduate courses. Justified Chief Justice K G
Balakrishnan, “if the creamy layer is included it would be unreasonable,
discriminatory or arbitrary, resulting in reverse discrimination.”
The verdict has knocked the bottom of the time-worn system
of having purely all caste-based quotas. One, because it went against the
tenets of Article 15(1) (prohibits discrimination on the ground of caste…) of
the Constitution Two, the Court felt that unless the creamy layer (forwards
among the Backward Classes) was excluded from the caste group, there could not
be a proper identification of the socially and educationally backward classes
(SEBC) based on poverty which need to be economically and socially uplifted.
Three, for the caste-fixated politicos the verdict is
totally out-of-sync with their greed for power. Specially when they can reap a
political windfall of over 70 per cent votes via reservation. See how they are
all busy finding ways to get the creamy layer included by raising the income
limit and getting post graduate institutions included. Never mind if it pushes India back by a
century.
True, the Apex Court needs to be lauded for it’s affirmation
of the principle of positive discrimination in favour of the SEBCs while
rejecting that social backwardness was a direct function of one’s caste status.
As also calling for a review of the OBC quota list every five years.
However, the anti-reservation lobby led by the Youth for
Equality is very unhappy. Whatever
happened to merit and excellence? When does justice supercede competence? What
about the Prime Minister’s much-touted Knowledge Commission? Questionably, is
reservation an end in itself? Has any objective study been done to find out
whether those provided reservation have gained or continued to lose? How does
it better the lot of the ‘deprived’ if a few persons get educated or get jobs?
Look at the grim truth. Fifty per cent of the reserved seats
of the IITs remain vacant (even the much lower entry marks were not secured by
the students). Worse, after completing a Preparatory Course, many students
continue to be unprepared for the intense competition and 'grading on a curve'
that they are thrown into. And 25 per cent of those who joined were forced to
quit as they were unable to complete the four-year course even in six
years! A recent survey points that 23.5
per cent college seats are already with the OBC's on merit. Why then the need
for reservations?
Not only that. The Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of SC
& ST (1995-2000) noted that in Delhi
University between 50 per
cent of the under-grad SC seats and 66 per cent ST remained unfilled. As per
the University Grants Commission, 1.2 lakh reserved category seats remain
vacant at the higher education levels and 40 per cent of reserved category
teaching staff posts remain unoccupied. It stands to reason why increase the
reserved seats if they go wasted? Is this good use of the taxpayer's money?
Since higher education is costly, who will foot the reserved
students’ tuition fees? Specially against the backdrop that nearly Rs 450
billion is spent on professional courses, including medical, dental and
engineering. According to an academician, over 85,000 seats remained vacant in
the engineering stream during 2003-04 in DU. And, in Karnataka alone, 400 seats
in dental colleges remained unfilled.
Less said the better about the teaching staff. Are our
politicians aware that over 500 vacancies exist in the reserved teachers’ quota
for colleges simply because no candidate could pass the Merit Eligibility
Test.? In Karnataka, at least four Government colleges don’t have 60 per cent
of the required staff because they failed the eligibility test. Instead of
going into the cause, the Centre is now thinking of changing the MET itself to
help unsuccessful teachers meet the eligibility. With future teachers such as
these, God help our education.
At the same time, none has given a thought to the
demoralising impact on the psyche of the qualified individuals denied admission
to these colleges. What happens to them? Where do they head? In fact, the verdict in one sense seems to
concur with the views of the anti-reservationists. It has raised questions on
the effectiveness of such a policy for bringing equality in the society.
Specially, as even after six decades of a reservation policy thanks to caste
politics the objectives have not been achieved.
As it stands today, there is no deletion in the list of
OBCs, instead it goes on increasing. Thus raising a doubt whether anyone is
truly interested in removing the inequality? All seem to have forgotten that
the Father of the Constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar wanted to do away with the
quota policy after ten years. Needless to say, this Mandal II has reignited the
merit vs. quota debate. Once implemented, the new policy would take the overall
reservation in the Central Government-funded higher education institutions to
49.5 per cent from the current 22.5 (for SC and ST students).
Post liberalization and in the environs of an increasingly
competitive global village, the thirst for education has gone up by over 10-15
per cent. In Bihar alone, educational
institutions have opened in every mohalla
and gali. But is reservation the
answer for bridging the gap between the demand and supply for education? Given
the onslaught of expanding students and a shrinking education pie.
No, most certainly not. The danger in imposing arbitrary
quotas on admissions to educational
institutions is three-fold. One, academic standards would suffer as
institutions would no longer be able to admit the highest-scoring students.
Two, it would be difficult to attract and retain good faculty, who is likely to
get frustrated with a poor standard of students. Three, any deterioration in
the quality of education which reflects in short-changing Brand India could
jeopardize our remarkable story of economic growth.
Importantly, the Government needs to develop new and
innovative ways of providing basic primary education for the backward classes
to enable them to compete on an equal footing for merit-based admission to
universities. By trying to play catch-up at the college level and cramming down
of quotas on education institutions is like putting the cart before the horse.
Look at the absurdity. A recent survey by an NGO showed only
52 per cent students were attending schools in Bihar and 60 per cent in Rajasthan,
UP, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. Also, 44 per cent children
in public schools in Std II to V couldn’t read simple paragraphs. Nearly five
per cent couldn’t do two-digit subtraction sums and in Std VI to VII 40 per
cent were unable to handle simple division problems. None know whether the
UPA’s flagship, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
is actually resulting in kids getting better education.
True, the Government’s fundamental mission is to provide
education for all and uplift the poor and backward classes. However, it needs
to remember that the system of caste-based quotas has become divisive and
self-defeating. Reservations are no
answer to improving the lot of the OBCs. It will only further divide our people
on caste lines and increase the divide between the haves and have-nots. As
Ambedkar said, “If you want different societies to come together, I think it is
time that we decide that the use of the word ‘caste’ be banned.” Else reconcile
to becoming a nation of mediocrity! --- INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature
Alliance)
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