(9) India and Reservation

Common Notions :

What is the benefit of policy of reservation ?

Reservation of seats in college admissions, job seeking etc. provides opportunities to low-caste and representations of scheduled communities. Therefore, the policy should not be decommissioned but extended for further years.

As Per My Understanding :

What is the efficacy of reservation ?

The dichotomy of casteism and reservation is the two ends of a see-saw – at one moment the left end will be higher than other, sometime later the right end will get more preference, and then again the left end, and so on – theoretically leading to a cycle of ups and downs, an endless play of high and low castes like an eternally propagating sinusoidal wave. What is needed here, is not a see-saw but a bench where both can sit equally. No doubt, reservation is not the solution to eradicate the evil of casteism, because it denies the very moral with which reservation was born – equality. Any bias/preference, be it for so-called high caste or low caste, is not equality. In other words, reservation does not promote equality or balance but a pseudo-balance like a pendulum. No wonder, why even seven decades of post-implementation of reservation law could not resolve casteism.

What is the growing scope in the name of casteism ?

• Job – It is an observed fact among my acquaintances that, in place of several years older senior associates, the inexperienced juniors have been promoted, owing to reservations i.e. promotions mandatorily alloted to such percentage. The employers are forced to promote to abide by reservation law, and later cater the remaining budgeted seats to the general castes.
• Academics – It is also an experienced fact among my peers that, despite the difference significantly in marks (about 15-20, if I remember correctly), the deserving candidates were lowered in rank by students who scored lesser but belonged to reserved SC/ST category. Perhaps, with an intention to hide this socio-academic bias, only in the recent past, the tally of score-rank-quota are simultaneously not displayed in the publicly circulated merit list.
• Prosperity – Most importantly, when such high scoring students, obviously backed with ability to bear foreign expenses, get recognitions in abroad, then they are taunted by some Indian SC/ST candidates in the name of Brahminism, while failing to realize that it could not be the aspect of Indian/Hindu Brahmin caste, but passing the merit score, that made the English/American foreigners choose the candidate for the concerned task. In short, the factors are merit and financial condition, not Hindu caste, when one prospers in a foreign land.

What is to be looked upon beyond reservation ?

• Reservation is a legal remedy to a religious issue, and a short-term solution becoming a long-term conflict, detrimental to the internal health of a nation. Reservation does not provide a long-lasting solution and cannot be a lone building-block of a nation’s progress.
• Reasoning :
  • Job requires skills. Reservation does NOT build skilling. Proper training does.
  • Exam requires knowledge. Reservation does NOT teach knowledge. Education does.
  • Prosperity sometimes requires investments. Reservation does NOT provide investments. Finance does.
• Education, Employment, and Finance and Infrastructure are the four key areas that Indians should focus upon for their social well-being.

“Quotaism” and “Casteism” are two sways of the same see-saw, on the fulcrum of opposition, instead of pillars of cooperation.

Why is it so difficult for some to recognize the drawback of reservation ? Is it because they fear losing guaranteed benefits in public sector, or unaware that SC/ST are also getting respectable equal opportunities in urban areas ?