I am not one for opinion rants. But that precedent will unfortunately have to be broken. Yes, the thorn in the flesh is the whole Reservation shindig.
To start things of, Yes I support Reservations. And yes I think they should be caste based.
Which caste blocks should be included and the extent of the opportunity pie is something I would leave to experts.
I think the protesting students and the whole "do away with reservations" voice, is missing a very important point. Large sections of society - the backward castes for example - have been traditionally deprived of education, livelihood options and other social opportunities. And their lack of access to opportunity isn't a product of them having less potential or less ability.
Centuries of dominance by upper castes by way of education, livelihood options, governance and policy making - has ensured that the backward castes have remained only on the fringe of growth and empowerment. With such divisions, with such anomalies are we an equal society? If we are not an equal society, how can we expect one and all to compete on merit?
I live in urban India, which is a pretty dolled up version of the country, low on the real problems and high on the post-liberalization glam. But yet, I do not know of a single forward class working as a domestic help in my building or as a facility staff at my workplace.
Independence means nothing, nor does a booming sensex. The backward classes at independence were atleast a century behind everybody else. We raised the tri-color at red fort and said - we are all equal now, start running...run like the wind!
It doesn't work that way! Even if they ran like the wind, they started a century behind the start line anyways.
I have worked with the Chinese, and boy is their English funny. This in spite of the Chinese government over the last decade pumping the largest sum of money - not into technical education, nor medicine, but yes English. This is probably the first generation of Chinese who are actually learning English in school. Obviously they don't match up to us yet, because our education in English is already 3 or 4 generations old.
Yes of course, with seats being reserved, a large number of students with apparently "more merit" will miss out. It's sad. But that unfortunately is the cost we will have to pay as a nation.
A backward step? Maybe. But only so that we can give the fellow Indian who has fallen behind, a helping hand.
Labels: World and us
8 Comments:
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It is nice to be a contrarian but it is stupid to be completely and undeniably wrong.
Merit, or competence, is the one and only key to survival ... and only soggy-brained socialists and venal and vicious politicians would like us to believe otherwise.
We people like you around, who needs Pakistan or China to take India to the cleaners.
Deep regrets -
Fundamentalism isn't restricted to religious nutjobs - some of our merit-fundamentalists surprise me with their blinkered view of the world.
For further proof, see above. -
While I agree with Ani above, I must reiterate my (admittedly unqualified by erudition) stand on the issue. It's quite a basic trap really. I agree with the helping hand thing, sure, it makes much sense.
But.
1. We need an administrative infrastructure to implement the Hand, as it were, and I don't see that popping into existence overnight. It just dosn't happen. There are already plenty of welfare (Ani, I mean it in a complete non-economist sense, so don't kill me this time :D)schemes where the money vanishes several layers above the intended beneficiaries. See what I'm getting at?
2. Also, what irks me is the insistence on reservations in the higher education level. Look at the state of primary education! 'Appalling' isn't anywhere near strong enough. Non-existent is mjore like it, really. So the sudden clamouring for reservations in higher education education reeks strongly of bloody hypocracy. And I'm none of us need to be told about political motivation.
Whew. So not a Rimi comment. Back to airhead chick, back to airhead chick! -
You have opened a can of worms, haven't you, now?
Here's my tuppence:
If we had concentrated on primary education and making sure about the quality thereof, we wouldn't need to reservation.
Reservation, if we must have it, should be assessed on financial and economic need.
Tertiary education is not a place to play vote-bank politics. It is and has got to be the privilege that thousands of students compete for.
It sickens me to think a candidate doesn't get admittted simply because he/she missed by a whisker of a percentile point when there are seats that are going to go unfilled thanks to the reservations we already labour under.
I wish primary education gets as much scrutiny as higher education is receiving. That would identify potential at early stage, and any intervention in the form of aid would make sense then.
Sorry to run on and on. But I did say, you started an acrimonious debate. :-)
I just came back to your blog to savour your prose and find a furious debate starting up. :D
Such is life. -
Ani, "caste-based" reservation adds to this very fundamentalism in more ways than one. Doesn't it?
Rohan, err, Will this policy change the state of affairs in U.P or Bihar? One wonders who the real beneficiaries of "caste-based" reservations will be!!
With reference to the first comment..it does not "merit" a response..:)) Begun diye ki gun bichar hoy?? -
Rohan, how long are you going wait before you post again? Sheesh. Talk about prima donnas.
Just give me a rough idea of how many days after a post I should check again. You are wearing my mouse out here, Rohan. -
my mother won't consult a doctor who's had to work lesser than the rest to get thru college.
perhaps spitting it out loud here'll amount to harakiri, but its imbecilic to lower the number of marks that a person should score to get thru to a college. and i strongly second lalita about the assistance starting at the primary level.
i mean, why should the bar be lowered for certain people just because they happen to have such and such surname? why isn't their economic status taken into consideration? they get it easy. period. and, no, i refuse to believe that the people really in need of such policies derive an iota of benefit. they're still languishing, barefeet, without food, without water, and school's a distant dream. you really think that these people could, by some miracle, clear the pmt/aieee/other assorted jee-s?
oh and by the way, when was the last time any of you ever prepared and written any of the above mentioned beastly exams? let me tell you, out of personal experience, its harrowing.... you have to take it in order to know just how hard you've got to drive yourself to get thru if you're a non-quota-ed person.
things aren't what they were even a couple of years ago, every year it just keeps getting tougher and tougher. and the pickle-brained cbse-ncert educationists keep getting dumber and dumber. -
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said... On Monday, June 12, 2006 3:23:00 pm
Gamesmaster G9 said... On Monday, June 12, 2006 4:10:00 pm
Rimi said... On Monday, June 12, 2006 8:05:00 pm
Lalita said... On Tuesday, June 13, 2006 12:03:00 am
Anti-establishment Inc said... On Wednesday, June 14, 2006 5:01:00 am
Lalita said... On Saturday, June 17, 2006 9:24:00 pm
Joychaser said... On Sunday, June 18, 2006 4:15:00 pm
said... On Friday, April 27, 2007 4:54:00 am
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