Reservations At What Cost!

New Delhi, 10 Apr 06: The Human Resource Development(HRD) Minister of India, Mr Arjun Singh has been criticised by many sections of the society. The most vitriolic of criticisms come from people belonging to the academic field. Teachers, scholars, lecturers and students alike have made Mr Singh their pet object of hate of the season.

True, in a country like India, the government should do its best to uplift the section of the society that is lagging behind in growth. The various sections that are underprivileged need to be helped in ameliorating its conditions and at least gain some dignity and semblance of a respectable existence. The thought is beautiful and noble. But can we say the same thing about the timing? Elections are on in Assam and 4-5 other states would soon go to the polls. So does it reflect some cunning calculation with eyes purely fixed on electoral gains for the party that Mr Singh belongs to?

Mr VP Singh mandalised the country and a certain Rajiv Goswani became a martyr. The Thakur lost his throne soon after but the students of this country never remained the same again. They have become all too self conscious of their insecurity. They are too sure of the effects such populist policies of Govts would have on the state of education in the country where other things besides merit is considered for getting into an academic institution.

Arguments against giving reservation to the Other Backward Classes /Scheduled Tribes /Scheduled Castes etc over and above the existing level of reservation may hold some merit. Going by past records, benefits doled out by any government don't always percolate to all sections down below. Only a certain section benefits from it and gained more power than before. Elites are created among the so called underprivileged, who in turn usurp all benefits from the government and in the process makes their own standing more entrenched while a good portion of the same community may not harvest any fruit of the government's benevolence and remain poor or underprivileged.

One stark disadvantage is that the so called backward classes would never outgrow their insecurity of being classified as way below the accepted levels in education, lifestyle, economic growth etc and condemned to remain with that tag hanging around their neck through out eternity.What I mean is that I belong to the so called Scheduled Tribe and I know the attitude with which the lecturers,teachers, fellow students during school and colleges and later on by colleagues associate us with even in work places.

The only thing working to my advantage was that the line of career or profession that I chose has no place for reservations based on the color, race or the social strata that one belongs to. I might not be the best or in the top league in my career but at the same time I could look somebody in the eye and make my stand because of the fact that I had been selected in the same way as them without any undue favour or fear.I feel equal if not more to them. Can our youngsters who have grown up being labelled forever as backward or remote or whatever come out of their shell and consider themselves equal to others in the mainstream society?