The issue of reservations has been a hot topic of debate many times and we have seen everything right from articles to violent demonstrations from parties either favouring it or opposing it.
Looking at the history of this issue, it was first introduced in the Constitution by the honorable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar while drafting it so that the oppressed and deprived people of India could come up to the level of upper castes in terms of education, economy,etc. This noble move was welcomed by the masses as the condition of the people soon after Independence was not very good. For hundreds of years the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) had been oppressed by the so-called upper classes and some of them were even termed “untouchables” and these people were not allowed physical contact with anything which was not theirs. Also in those times, the economic condition and the work done by a person was determined by his/her caste. For eg. Brahmans had the right to perform all the rituals and study the scripturtes, the Kshatriyas were the warriors, the Vaishyas were mainly traders and the Shudras were servants and slaves serving the upper classes.
Thus it was a morally good deed by Dr. Ambedkar to provide them a place in the Indian Society with the concept of reservations. This plan was to be carried out for a period of five years so that within this period the oppressed classes can come up and have an equal opportunity with others. The Constitution laid down 15% and 7.5% of vacancies to government aided educational institutes and for jobs in the government/public sector, as reserved quota for the SC and ST candidates respectively for a period of five years, after which the situation was to be reviewed. This period was routinely extended by the following governments and the Indian Parliament, and no revisions were undertaken for the fear of losing votes (It is a well known fact that the so-called backward communities are active in politics and their people vote; unfortunately, the majority of highly educated Indians do not vote during the general elections).
More than 50 years have passed now since it was introduced. We would expect all these deprived classes to have come up by now and made a name for themselves in the society. Reality, however shows a completely different picture. The actual beneficiaries of the scheme havent availed of the benefits and we see undeserving people prospering at their behest.
Take for example the case in educational institutions. We have fixed quotas for every caste. However the most (in many cases all) of the seats reserved for SC/ST are taken by the children of politicians, businessmen and other such people who are “backward” because they belong to a particular caste or family. The actual deprived people do not get what is rightfully theirs or they arent interested. Also at many places its quite easy to get a SC/ST/OBC certificate if you are ready to shell out the buck to the right person. Take for example of a poor boy who wants to study further but cannot get a seat in the college of his choice because a “backward” son of a politician gets his seat inspite of scoring lesser marks. This clearly violates our definitions of backward and forward.
The topic of reservations cropped up again for hot debate recently with the Central Governments decision to provide 27 % reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in premier educational institutions like the world renowned Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). This led to massive demonstrations by the student community which was opposing the reservations on the grounds that it would inevitably degrade the standard set by these institutes.
This order by the Government comes at a time when no longer does your caste determine your occupation or your economic status. Practically the people who had the potential to rise above these limits have succeeded and no longer does a low caste person have to be poor or a high caste person be rich. Especially when the whole point of reservation was raised to improve the economic and social condition of the poor people one fails to understand the whole point of the scheme in the 21st century. Agreed that India still has a big population below the poverty line that needs our help and attention for the country to prosper. What they actually require is economic aid from the Government and not reservations. You only require to give a plant the correct type of soil and it will spread its roots on its own and grow to become a fully fledged tree.
If we say that the reservations scheme has benefitted the masses till now, it obviously means that they are no longer backward and do not need the reservations now. On the other hand if we say that India is still poor inspite of reservations, it is evident that the scheme has failed to achieve its goals and needs to be reconsidered. What the people in power blinded by their votebank politics have failed to notice that the ‘Creamy layer’ has been taking all the Government benefits at the sake of the poor people.
The need of the hour is scholarships for deserving students and not reservations. A bright student, irrespective of his caste or family can come up on his own talents if provided with the necessary requirements. The only hindrance can be monetary difficulties. So if the Government takes the initiative to help them with that then the “need” for reservations is no longer there. After all a poor person is more concerned about feeding his family than the seats and jobs which are kept for him by the Government.
