Do we need Reservations???

The reservation system has been in place for close to 60 years now. When is someone in the government finally going to get the brains to say "Reservation doesn't work, lets get rid of it." Seems like every few years the enternal cesspool that constitutes our government finds new ways to screw us, the students as well as citizens of India. I am someone who would personally "BENEFIT" from the so called new quota for OBC's along with the exsisting reservations for SC/ST, but then why should i voice my opposition to such a move. Well firstly the governments that ruled India for so many years have had nothing to do with the interests of the minorities and the socially and educationally backward communites, this reservation system is just a method for them to garner votes from the minorities and that is exactly what happened in the years before, we can't blame any one party of being populist when they come with sops for some particular sections of the society.

But the present UPA goverment is doing all bad things at the wrong time, all their so called initiatives to protect the interests of the downtrodden communities is just a farce to gain political milage. They first started off with this issue by having a ruling to have 50 % reservations to Aligarh muslim university, since it's a MUSLIM university. The govt has shown that it is against the growth of India as a knowledge superpower, this was clear when IIMB wanted to start a campus @ singapore and the govt. opposed that move, but had to give in later.

I think this is a prelude to the proposed bill on community reservation in PRIVATE sector. This will affect lakhs of eligible people while the present decision is going to affect only a few thousands. So i think it's really time for the public in general to come up in full force against such stupid populist decisions.

Now with the polls loomin in 5 states, the timing of such a decision is clearly understandable by even a 5 yr old child. The govt needs such populist reforms to stay in power and they would do anythin to get power. Such a govt would only result in the downfall of the growing economy and would cause a setback to the educational institutes like it did when it tried to impose the family planning program back in the late 70's. People have come out in huge numbers including the people who belong to OBC's. That clearly shows the anger and frustration of the people towards the goverment's moves.

Now why should the people who benefit from the quota come against it; there are two main issues.
One is that the quota is for OBC's in general, which means the so called creamy layer is also part of the OBC's. That would mean that people who are already well-off would get more reservations to study @ premier institutes at the cost of other students. So the people who are REALLY backward stand no chance of getting the benefits. Those on the lowest rung of OBCs referred to as the Most Backward Class, feel that this fresh initiative will be taken over by the creamy layer and those who should be the real benificiaries would once again be left out. So the govt should frame rules to decide as to who is backward and who is not, and they shouldn't make it just on the basis of a income certificate which can be obtained from the offices by bribing the clerks. They should come up with a foolproof plan to find whoever is deserving.
Second issue is about the degrading of the standards of such institues which once had the crème de la crème of the student community will now have to cope with the students who come with not so great academic qualities, this would cause additional trauma to the students who get into the colleges on the basis of such reservations. Another issue that will cause trouble is that the overall prestige of such institutes would come down along with their name and reputation.

It is sad to note that with Other Backward Classes (OBCs) comprising more than 50 per cent of the electoral votes, no political party is openly opposing it. Only the students are coming in large numbers protesting such a ridiculous move by the govt.
Yesterday night within hours of announcement of the government's decision to hav the reservations in these institutes i got a mail from one of my friends frwd to him by students of IIT Kharagpur, it was about signing an online petition against the governments proposal to have the reservations. Within 8 hours of the HRD minister announcing the move, they had more than 3700 signatures, i was the 3702th person to sign it. Today when i looked it had crossed the 7500 mark. That is the amount of dissent against the govt's move.

It is not just the 20 central universities and the IITs and IIMs. Educational institutions like the six central medical colleges including AIIMS, National Law School at Bangalore and Indian Institute of Mass Communication will all have to comply with the reservations most likely from next year on. The IIT's are set to lose around 1300 seats in the general category, the IIM's close to a 200. The JNU is gonna lose more than 2000 seats, so will other universities and institutes having international reputation.

What the government should have done was to create the number of seats going down to reservations as additions from this year, that was what President APJ Abdul Kalam had to say on this issue, Then the students in the general community needn't worry since their seats would remain constant.

But i still strongly feel that it's high time the govt. got rid of the reservation, which is totally against the secular principles on which a country like India is modelled.

To join the protest, sign the petition here.

All are welcome to post their comments about my views.