Reservation - The story you wish were true
Disclaimer – I am the worst category in terms of reservation – Category – GENERAL, Sex
– MALE. I am not writing this to vent my anger towards the reservation system.
I just want to understand whether it serves the purpose it was supposed to as
envisioned by Babasaheb Ambedkar. I have
very good friends who are from reserved category and that fact has never
created any problems between us. I am not a statistician; numbers quoted are
taken from government reports and published reports from renowned publication
like WSJ. I duly apologize to all my friends if they are hurt by reading this. It
is not meant as a personal attack. I wish our friendship remains as strong as
it has been over the years.
2001 was the year which brought
me face to face with reservation. I had cleared my 12th and was
gearing up for the rounds in VRCE (Now VNIT). That was the first time I heard
terms like SC/ST, Girls Quota, Minority Quota, J&K Quota. I had many
friends who were classified in one of the above but after this it forced me to
look them in another light. They were from well to do families, some of them
were way better than me in studies, sports and other extracurricular activities.
I just did not fathom the reason why did they get special treatment over me. I would
have understood if they had got higher marks than me, but most of the time that
was not the case.
During our admission period we
had a joke in the family that general category Boys are the most backward class
and should be given reservation as there was a girl’s quota too. I used to give
reason to the whole process assuming it is helping a certain category of people
to come up in life and give them equal opportunity {that’s the line they use to
defend reservation sometime other than vote bank of course (OOPS did I give the
real reason for reservation)}
During my engg I came to know
that the university has a scholarship program for reserved category students. Under
this scholarship program the university gives part or full fees back to the
student. First time I heard it I was like wow that’s nice – the person who
comes from a poor family would be encouraged to study and also his family would
not have any problem as it would not put any economic burden. Then the truth
dawned on me. As I started to see people who were of the same economic
background as I was were getting their fees back. During two years they got
more than the fees they paid (WHOA – never knew Nagpur university to be so
generous. During our days they were never so generous with marks.)
During those days we used to
laugh about it and not think much, but on hindsight it hurt two ways. During
those days there were two kinds of seats – Free (12,000 PA) and Payment (47,000
PA).If you score really good marks then you will be eligible for free seat as
the marks go down then you need to opt for payment seat if you want a good
branch. I had scored 272/300 in the PCM group (93%), some would say it was very
good marks but in truth it did not take me anywhere. As a person from reserved
category would have got the free seat at much lesser marks than I had. Then later
on he must have got the fees also back if he got selected for the scholarship.
What did I do wrong - all my friends stay in a very comfortable
home, their parents also have a similar job as my father had (still has), we
drive similar vehicles, we go to the same place to watch movies. Just because I
am not part of a particular group I should be left behind. This reminds of the
caste system that we learn in history books in school. I think the caste
system never left the country. It just got transformed into reservation system.
So the systems says that go my boy you have all freedom to pursue your dreams -
study hard, get good marks and take admission at the best college in the
country. We will not distinguish based on caste and creed, but you will have only
50% of the playing field. So Mr Government, you show me two wings and when I come
out of the operation theater I have only one.
Last year the 3rd edition
of Aspiring Minds - National Employability Report Engineering Graduates – 2014 states that only 18.33%
graduates are employable. That cuts a very sorry figure for the entire
education system of our country (reservation is a part of it. I don’t blame it
entirely but when you remove merit for 50% of the seats it forces me to think
on those lines).
I am not against reservation. 36%
of the upper caste (including all religion) are economically backward and
deserve reservation but do not get it based on their caste. Is this fair??
We should not reduce merit in the
name of reservation. We should have admission based on pure merit but complete
economic help should be given to the deserving candidate based on their family
economic condition. Yes this will increase the expense of the government, but that’s
the purpose of the govt isn’t it - spend wisely for the welfare of the people.
This will create an environment
of competition rather than frustration. Every student will know that he does
not have a seat guaranteed because what his caste is, but he is rest assured
that the government will take care of the expenses if he qualifies. Without the
worry of financial aspects he can prepare and study hard for the best college
in the country (invariably the best ones have the highest fees also – most of
the time)
I completely understand that this
sounds very simple, but problems are better solved with simple solution and
best execution rather than a complex solution and mediocre execution. I know
this small writing will not solve the problem, but if any political party can
move above the vote bank politics and think on improving India then I guess it
solves the purpose.
On a lighter note, for all
parents rather than changing jobs and increasing salaries, work towards getting
a caste certificate and secure your child’s future. This would be the best
child plan you can take, and you might not have to pay the premium also for a long
time :)
Till the next Post
So Long,
Roll No 15
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