My two cents on Reservation
Enough media coverage and even blog space has been dedicated to this topic. Here are my two cents nevertheless.
Well, what ever I say will be viewed as coming from an upper caste and obviously biased, but I continue writing here nonetheless, willing to take on that allegation.
Even the writers of our constitution envisaged reservation only for 10 years, but vote bank politics has ensured that reservation not only continued but also thrived and propogated and even became an election issue. My understanding is that government wants to provide social equitability. This means that equality of opportunity in schooling, college, jobs and so on. But somehow I dont see 'equality' here.
60's and 70's were the era of huge state funded industries and factories. Working in government jobs meant life time employment, pension and other retirement benefits taken care of. So reservation entered and stayed in these institutions. Today, private enterprises are the most lucrative jobs and IITs, IIMs, AIIMS the most prestigious institutions. So today they would come under the reservation umbrella. Tomorrow it would shift to civil services and probably even army, who knows.
When Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, proposed to the industry to come up with some kind of diversity policy for affirmative action, (wow... sounds sophisticated.. but read it as RESERVATION). It was unanimously rejected by the CII. Well, I am sure it was the politician in Dr. Singh rather than the economist in Dr. Singh talking. When one wants to compete globally with the best of the best, why would a company want to have a reservation policy. By this, they would be taking in people who are lower down the merit order. This automatically means more training, more expenses, wastage of precious time, resources and space. Today the buzz word is human capital and human equity, and no one in their right senses would want to make their human equity less competitive.
Private enterprise and especially IT was probably the best thing that could have happenned to the non-reservation candidates in late 80's and 90s. Here, merit was recognised. Today if we are known globally for anything its Indian erotica and the IT industry. Why would a nation want to destroy its own competence instead of leveraging it makes no sense economically, politically and hell, even rationally. Short term, myopic election to election view of our leaders is telling.
The problem is systemic and there seems to be no sign of an ideological shift away from the reservation mindset. So the question now in front of us is, will we sit back and see more and more opportunities being snatched away from meriotorious candidates or are we going to stand up to make our voices heard? Will we take some 'affirmative action'?
I do believe that there should be help to sections of society which do not have exposure or do not have ability to gain that exposure. Lets set up more technical schools. Let the industries adopt colleges, diploma schools, run courses in colleges and even schools. These are the common suggestions which come out and are oft repeated but is someone listening? Is someone doing something? Does anyone want to do anything?
Damn! wish I was 'oru naal mudhalvar' (CM for a day):D
I see a lot of protests by students in Delhi, Allahabad, Patna but no news at all from the south. Are all the students willing to accept whatever the diktat is,no matter what its implications are?
Affirmative action: Read here (for stannford's philosophical history) and here (wikipedia).
Well, what ever I say will be viewed as coming from an upper caste and obviously biased, but I continue writing here nonetheless, willing to take on that allegation.
Even the writers of our constitution envisaged reservation only for 10 years, but vote bank politics has ensured that reservation not only continued but also thrived and propogated and even became an election issue. My understanding is that government wants to provide social equitability. This means that equality of opportunity in schooling, college, jobs and so on. But somehow I dont see 'equality' here.
60's and 70's were the era of huge state funded industries and factories. Working in government jobs meant life time employment, pension and other retirement benefits taken care of. So reservation entered and stayed in these institutions. Today, private enterprises are the most lucrative jobs and IITs, IIMs, AIIMS the most prestigious institutions. So today they would come under the reservation umbrella. Tomorrow it would shift to civil services and probably even army, who knows.
When Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, proposed to the industry to come up with some kind of diversity policy for affirmative action, (wow... sounds sophisticated.. but read it as RESERVATION). It was unanimously rejected by the CII. Well, I am sure it was the politician in Dr. Singh rather than the economist in Dr. Singh talking. When one wants to compete globally with the best of the best, why would a company want to have a reservation policy. By this, they would be taking in people who are lower down the merit order. This automatically means more training, more expenses, wastage of precious time, resources and space. Today the buzz word is human capital and human equity, and no one in their right senses would want to make their human equity less competitive.
Private enterprise and especially IT was probably the best thing that could have happenned to the non-reservation candidates in late 80's and 90s. Here, merit was recognised. Today if we are known globally for anything its Indian erotica and the IT industry. Why would a nation want to destroy its own competence instead of leveraging it makes no sense economically, politically and hell, even rationally. Short term, myopic election to election view of our leaders is telling.
The problem is systemic and there seems to be no sign of an ideological shift away from the reservation mindset. So the question now in front of us is, will we sit back and see more and more opportunities being snatched away from meriotorious candidates or are we going to stand up to make our voices heard? Will we take some 'affirmative action'?
I do believe that there should be help to sections of society which do not have exposure or do not have ability to gain that exposure. Lets set up more technical schools. Let the industries adopt colleges, diploma schools, run courses in colleges and even schools. These are the common suggestions which come out and are oft repeated but is someone listening? Is someone doing something? Does anyone want to do anything?
Damn! wish I was 'oru naal mudhalvar' (CM for a day):D
I see a lot of protests by students in Delhi, Allahabad, Patna but no news at all from the south. Are all the students willing to accept whatever the diktat is,no matter what its implications are?
Affirmative action: Read here (for stannford's philosophical history) and here (wikipedia).
4 comments:
well, repeating myself, but when have you ever seen protests in south equal the north?
maybe it's because we have learnt from the past to lump it or leave it, or maybe it's because we see so many other options open to us.
sophist: or mebbe we by nature are laid back, more accepting and docile.(If thats the right word!)
or mebbe we wait for someone to do something about things, without wanting to get ourselves involved.
OR mebbe we alwyas want to to follow the safer option and the most beaten path..
mebbe we have always been able administrators but never catalysts and king makers..
well, i guess that would also be true. i am the laziest person i know, so i'm always happy letting someone else do the planing and the organising. i guess that applies to the rest of the southern states too.
Hey Ravi,
got the link to your blog from Rajesh's blog site...
Reservation will only create further problems...and this implementation comes a good fifteen years after the report was tabled in parliament!! Arjun singh is a spineless rascal...
protests in the south....well, someone told in an interview on TV that TN has 69% of the seats reserved for BC/ OBC/ MBC/ SC/ ST....i guess people have got used to this policy and they disagree with their comrades in the north...
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