Thursday, May 18, 2006

Hail reservation!

Human resource and development ministry is one every national party secretly wishes to abolish. Murli Manohar Joshi tried to write history books and reduce IIM fees to curb its autonomy. Arjun Singh's recent move to get 50% reservations for minorities in prestigious institutes like IITs and IIMs and medical colleges faces upper caste backlash. Surely HRD ministers have a knack of putting Governments in a fix only a few ministries can match.

So what if 50% seats are reserved for minorities? IT firms aren't recruting from IITs but hordes of second and third tier colleges and the industry is doing fine. IIMs total strength is 1400 but India inc is not complaining. There might be concerns about quality, but in the bigger scheme of things, the impact is marginal.

Everytime, reservations issues crop up, the standard excuses crop as well- The system discriminates a poor brahmin to an elite dalit bureaucrat, it affects quality, reservations have been in place for too long with little results and lastly, give them opportunities in education, not seats or jobs. Lets see it one by one.

First one- affirmative action is intended to target those segments of population which has been deprived of opportunities for long so that social imbalances are corrected. The issue needs to be dealt with independently of reservation on basis of economic imbalances.

The system doesn't place minorities in IITs. It only relaxes criteria for them- its like having a shorter boundary for a OBC cricket player- he still has to get the runs himself.That is why inspite of reservations, institutes find it difficult to fill them with actual minority candidates.

There is no reason to think reservations must've delivered after 6 decades- see the endless potholes, frequent powercuts, traffic jams. Don't be too hard on the poor system;it never works.

As far as giving them opportunities than reserve jobs, the former is taken care by the latter. Its very difficult to correlate the rupees spent on opportunities and the results. If a way is found, its the best way to go about it.

Hail affirmative action! Thank god minister's move is after I got into IIM.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

your last line washes off all your arguments......

sivananth said...

True.Irony was my intention from start. I'm not a fan of reservation, am i? Its not a bad idea to see other side of the issue though.

Id it is said...

We are crying 'reverse discrimination' too, here in the USA. Large scale minority reservations do affect quality and that is evident by the downward trend in more areas than one; the economy, education, science and technology...

Amit said...

When you say "It only relaxes criteria for them- its like having a shorter boundary for a OBC cricket player- he still has to get the runs himself."; you got it all wrong. The real life reservation is not just about a shorter boundary for the OBC cricket player but also about including him in the team at the expense of another player who deserved to play.
And like you proved in your last line, you are probably one of those guys who takes pleasure in somebody else's pain - just because you are through, you are willing to look at the other side just for fun without any real thought into the matter.

ALI said...

MiM MP Asaduddin Owaisi On Sachar Committee Report and Reservation in Parliament

ASADUDDIN OWAISI MP (HYDERABAD) : Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I rise to support the Bill that has been tabled in the august House. I have got some important points to bring to the notice of the august House.
The Sachar Committee report has been tabled in this House. It clearly states the educational backwardness of the Muslim community. According to Sachar Report, there are 39 per cent OBCs and 0.8 per cent Scheduled Caste in the Muslim community.
I support this Bill which provides reservation in Central Universities to SCs, STs and OBCs. However, I would like to know as to how fair it is to deny the benefits of reservation on the basis of religion, especially after the Government has tabled the Sachar Report in this august House which shows how bad my educational standards are and my conditions are.
I would just like to quote one point here as far as the report is concerned. Page 73 of Sachar Report clearly says, “The percentage of population of graduates, as far as the Muslims are concerned, is 1.2 and those attending P.G. courses is 16.3.” It is lesser in Muslims than in dalits also. You are not implementing these minority universities over there. But why is it that I am being denied such benefits? Moreover, the Presidential Order of 1950 contravenes the basic fundamental rights given in the Constitution.
How is it that only SCs belonging or professing the religion of Hinduism or Sikhism or neo Buddhism are being given reservation? Why not Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims? This question has to be pondered over by the Government. I would request you sincerely, Sir, that the Government should come forward and ensure that the 1950 Presidential Order, Schedule III is amended. It says that only a person professing Hinduism or Sikhism or neo Buddhism can be classified as Schedule Caste. How is that possible? This Report of yours clearly says this. There is this argument about Muslims and OBCs. Why is it such a low percentage is there? This has to be looked into.
Lastly, about Jamia Milia University, how is that the present Vice-Chancellor wants to implement this present Bill in Jamia Milia University? Why has the Vice-Chancellor overnight changed this position? Why are we being denied such benefits? I would request you that this issue has to be taken care of. They have applied to the National Minority Education Commission also. It is pending over there. If Jamia Milia University is not a minority University, then, which is a minority university? This is a very important question. These are important points I wanted to bring to the notice of the august House.
I support this Bill. I hope that this UPA Government will take affirmative action and will not deny us reservation under Article 16(4). If people are opposed to reservations to Muslims, they should look into the pre-native history of Article 16(4). It is none other than Sardar Vallabhai Patel, who has stated `classes’ means `Minorities’. He was the Chairman of that Advisory Committee. Why are Muslims having reservations in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka? Why can they not be given reservations nationwide? It has to be done. Literacy rate of 13 per cent of population is only 59. There is a huge difference between literate and educated persons. You can very well imagine 13 per cent of population with a literacy of 59 per cent. Hence, I would request that the Government should come forward with the proposal and I hope that the hon. Minister, when he stands up to reply would respond to this or this UPA Government has to amend 1950 Presidential Order. They have to take affirmative action under Articles 15(4) and 16(4).
Thank you.

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