Reservation of seats of OBC’s in higher education is not in National Interest

Higher Education in the country is a major component to economical and social progress. Universities across the country have been facing severe challenges in imparting quality education to its students. One of the challenges and burning issues of national concern is the Reservation debate.

India has been a major seat of learning for centuries. Education is one of the prime instruments for transforming India into a self-reliant and self-dependent economy. Social justice- What we are talking right now is of prime importance. The reservation system provides scope for the disadvantaged groups to advance significantly.

One of the main reasons for backwardness is poverty. An Indian who is born and lives in poverty cannot afford to give the same standards of education to his children as many of us in the urban centres. The increasing costs of education may make it a far dream of graduating for the poor child of a poverty stricken backward family.

Last year’s i.e. 2006, the anti-reservation protests have raised serious and intimidating questions. For e.g.: for thousands of years, under the aegis of the caste system that suppressed groups of people, whom we now call ‘the marginalised’ – what justice are we doing to them? It is a joint responsibility of all of us to pull out them out of the vicious circle and lead them to the path of education.

The people by virtue of the simple fact that they were born into a caste, were denied opportunities, freedoms, responsibilities and even today caste continues to play a dominant role in ‘modern ’India. To this - today inhuman and degrading castes practices prevail. Those opposing Reservations on the pretext of equality and merit are not advocating equality at all.

Hundreds of doctors, medicos and students took to the streets fighting against Reservations last year. The backward classes form a significant number in the Indian population. Why should they not be given Reservation- a means and opportunity to uplift them for the old practices we imposed on our fellow human beings? Unfortunately, the voices of the OBCs and the pro-reservationists have not been heard as loud as the opponents.

The one word ‘merit’ covers the entire story. Poor schooling, social conditions, economic status are not conducive to compete on an equal footing for the down trodden where, in an urban centre and a bare minority in the rural settings afford to send their children for tutorials and coaching classes for a competitive examination, a poor backward class student may not even afford the examination fee. A student in the cozy room and warmth of all comforts may secure a 90%; another student from one of the remote villages, commuting every day, helping himself to make a living and also trying to earn the benefits of education secures a first class- Can we justify merit? It must be remembered that once a student is admitted in the general or Reservation category, they all undergo the same process of examination. They must and surely compete at the same level.
-Increase in the number of seats & then Reservations what are we?

Our universities play a great role in this social transformation. A student community which is the hope for tomorrow must be taught to welcome reforms for a social progress of all classes and castes.

Fighting for this equality will not suppress development. It will pave way for a true democracy- that of complete participation. If all sections of the society do not participate in higher education; some of them will be left out at the bottom of the beaker- our principles of justice and equality will fail miserably. We tend to forget the circumstances and situation that allow us to be meritorious. It is quite disheartening to see many of the students waging an anti-reservation protest. The events that happened in 1989-90 against the Mandal Commission were scary. Students went to the extent of immolating themselves. 16 years from then, we continue to be indifferent to the cries of the oppressed masses!

We are talking about national interest… what is national interest? To progress from a developing economy to a developed, agrarian to a highly industrial nation, from a third world to first world. True!! Very promising aspirations. I.T, B.T, S.T, N.T, R&D, all for whom? What is Technology? Technology is information. It is quite evident that the information divide will continue to grow and widen if we don’t check our selfish desires. If national interest is not to bring up particular sections of the community, our democracy will fail miserable. We claim to be one of the world’s largest democracies. This is one side of the coin. What about the other side of being a true and successful democracy?

We are not looking at individual betterment, but to agree to the age old history of social discrimination. Reservations are a means to check and an attempt to correct the mistakes of the past. Our country’s bare reality where our people continue to carry human waste in bamboo baskets for Rs.30/- a month, our dream of an equal India on hand and protests against reforms on the other will deny opportunity leaving equality as a distant reality. It may be easy to say ‘we live in modern India” & we are free from class and caste hierarchies. My dear friends go down to the reality of the masses. Oppression continues the most backward classes have been forced to do the most inhuman and degrading activities. Our human endeavors must be to swim across this reality and fight for a nation- devoid of these practices. The essence of our social movement must be to help build the identities of the oppressed communities to bring a new democracy and to stand for justice.” Education is the right weapon to cut the social slavery and to enlighten the down trodden mass to come up and gain social status, economic betterment and political freedoms”. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

(Paper presented by Emmanuel Raju, National EXCO at the Debate organized by Human Development Magazine.)