Jat quota violence : - ( Abolish Reservation Because Merit And Efficiency Are In Danger ! )

Opinion

 21./02/2016.

 236.

All Members,

Respected family members of this great holy Nation.

Caste based Reservation : is this a curse ?


SUB : - Jat quota  violence :
Leaderless  mob  looting,   Rohtak in ruins.
IBN LIVE report-21/02/2016.

What is now happening in the name of Jat agitation is horrible.

We have never seen anything like this.

The city of Rohtak is in ruins.

The old market is destroyed.

The new shopping malls, buildings, hotels, educational institutions which came up during the 10 years rule of BS Hooda have also been severely damaged by the mob.

Some malls have been stripped off everything.

The leaderless agitation is full of criminals who have unleashed a reign of terror in the name of agitators and quota agitation.

The jobless youth and other petty criminals have joined the agitation, looting and terrorising the people.


Ref  : - Abolish Reservation Because Merit And Efficiency Are In Danger :
 Vinay Bhushan Upadhyay - Student Of LL.B Vth Semester, Law School, Banaras Hindu, University, Varanasi.

Introduction-

A.

India -"Hindustan" literally means the land of Hindus. It is a secular nation since 1950. Officially, there is no place for religious, cultural or caste segregation in the society. However, the framers of the Indian Constitution decided to give special benefits to the backward classes and women by forming a reservation policy that was included in the Constitution itself. This paper tries to look at this policy and how it has progressed in the last 60 years, and analyze its effectiveness and implications.

B.

Reservation is a highly debated topic in India. This system of positive discrimination remains mostly unimplemented in many sectors. Although, it was intended to carry on a democratic revolution in the arenas of education and employment, owing to red tapism, official negligence, and a whole host of other factors, it has not achieved its targeted change. One of the reasons also include the banal idea that the recipients of reservation (which was originally proposed with the idea of amelioration of the depressed classes) are drawn from the "creamy layer" e.g. children of highly educated and well-employed parents belonging to the backward and scheduled castes. We find that another equally important concept used in stopping the effective reach of the reservation policy is the "Merit syndrome", whereby the privileged classes resent and rally on the false premise that reservation policy destroys merit.

C.

The arguments which May put forward against the reservation policy are:


a). Merit will be compromised : -


1. We begin with the basic assumption that all human beings are born with enormous, if not equal, capacities. There are several studies and research to show that human intelligence is a very dynamic and difficult to measure and near impossible to replicate entity (look at the recent works by Steven Pinker, Roger Penrose). Besides there is no evidence to claim that it is inherited differentially either on the basis of race, gender or class (look at the debate on Bell curve in US). If it is not inherited differentially then why is it that the Brahmans and other upper castes who comprise only 17.58 % of the total population get more than 70-80% of seats in jobs and education, while the remaining 80% manage to get hold of less than 30% of the seats? ( IIT Chennai example can be a case in point). This is a de facto reservation operating in their favor.

2. And if we assume that it is the “ meritorious” who have occupied the best positions in this country all this while, why is it that India was plagued with mediocrity, incompetence, corruption and inefficiency for last 60 years?. It is wrong to blame the lowers castes for these ills which never got the opportunity to perform.

The definition of ‘merit' which is considered in these institutes of higher learning is very narrow. Besides, the literature in sociology, psychology and linguistics has firmly established that such ‘merit' is ‘acquired', rather than ‘inherited' The kind of ‘merit' that is talked about is determined not only by economic but also by socio-cultural background of the concerned individuals. The contemporary sociological literature talks, in addition to economic capital, about the social capital (social network, family background, education etc.) and cultural capital (for ex. fluency in English and articulation, acquired through family and elite schooling and through social capital) that contributes to the acquisition of this ‘merit'. So the social and cultural deprivation of the backward castes and communities is as important as the economic deprivation. This deprivation has been there due to the historical processes of social, cultural and even political exclusion and oppression. Moreover, in addition to this deprivation many of the lower castes also face caste based ostracism which hinders their acquisition of this ‘merit'. Even today in many Indian villages untouchability is practiced. In many schools Dalit children are not allowed to sit with the upper caste Hindu children, they cannot drink water from the common water-taps.


b). Reservations would create caste based divisions :-


1. We say that the caste based divisions and inequalities are already there.

2. So the reservation policy is not creating them out of nowhere. It is not even enhancing these divisions.

3. Instead reservations are one of the ways in which this division can be leveled.


c). This is a political game plan of the politicians to gain votes : 

1. We say this is not supported by facts.


d). There are a large number of failings in the reasons publicized by the government for implementing this reservation.

1. Firstly, the government has rooted its decision in a survey conducted by the Britishers prior to Independence, on the percentage of the OBCs in the population.

2. The reserved category candidates occupy nearly 52% of the government jobs today.

3. Then what is the immediate need to increase the quotas?

4. Though the government would not agree to it, most people feel that this is just another way of wooing the voters.


D.

Conclusion:-


1. There is not an iota of doubt that Reservation and social justice is the need of the hour but it must be only to the extent that the efficiency of the govt. is not affected. 

2. Article 335 states that the claims of the SCs and STs shall be taken into consideration consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration in the making of appointments to the services and posts in connection with the affairs of the union and of a state. At the same time, in a campaign to extent of punishing those excluded from the benefit of reservation.

3.  We cannot also make to strive to transform hitherto upper classes into the weaker classes. This may lead to utter frustration among the meritorious youth and brain drain. It would in turn be a retrogressive step.

4. After going through the whole discussion it is quite clear that Reservation is not an atonement of our past sins and should not be used to compensate for the damage inflicted in the past. It is still a bitter fact that certain sections of the society are exploited and deprived of their rights. At the same time we should also have in the mind that despite the provision of reservation being continued for around six decades, the problem of social inequality remains.

5. The solution, therefore, is not in reservations but elsewhere.

B.

In my opinion, this current slogan comes very close to the truth. 

There are multiple reasons in saying so. 

1. For one thing, the current policy fails to achieve its purpose of giving equal opportunity to everyone, because of lack of infrastructure in the rural areas of the country, where the proportion of backward classes is significant.

2. Secondly, it fails to establish a national standard, which causes disequilibria in the status of the states.

3. Thirdly, in real terms, there is no abolishment of caste system. Instead, the disparity increases because of antagonistic attitudes on both sides. The members of lower classes still feel that they do not have sufficient representation and the members of upper classes feel that in spite of their merits, they do not have the same opportunities.

4. Last, but not the least, the other minorities are demanding reserved representation too, which would ultimately lead to a situation where the seats left for the majority would not be proportional with their population.

5. This therefore, becomes a cyclical issue, rather than an equal opportunity issue.

C.

Another problem that arises from the equal opportunity reservation policy is that the merits of the backward classes are never truly recognized. 

1. This compromises with the efficiency of the country.

2. The government of India provides tremendous funding for educational institutions.

3. When people who do not utilize them fully use these resources, it leads to a waste.

4. In addition, people on reservation quotas do not get equal treatment in the society once they get qualified because of the stigma associated with reservation.

5. Reserved seats in the Legislature and some educational institutions for women, also leads to a similar problem of unequal treatment in the end.

6. Thus, the whole purpose of providing equal opportunity gets defeated. The caste system and discrimination have persisted in spite of the reservation quotas.

7. Reverse discrimination is widespread and everyone wants to take total disadvantage of the existing system.

8. This leads to corruption, inefficiency, and equal treatment to unequal.

9. This equity issue is the base of many current problems in the Indian society, polity, and economy today.

D.

1. It would be my sincere request to the policy makers and intellectual person that Merit needs to be the prime yardstick in any selection. 

2. This can be surely done only if we discourage caste system by becoming truly secular :- by abolishing all references to caste & religion in public life and in gubernatorial affairs. 

3. If this is not done, the people who are adversely affected by reservations will breed contempt for India as a State, although they will love India as their country. 

4. Frustrated at being constantly deprived, in spite of performing better than those benefited by reservations, such groups may demand a land of their own. It may well be impossible for all judicial, legislative, and even military attempts to thwart such a demand and another partition will not be far if the present policy is continued.. 

5. Such a policy of favouring persons on the basis of their birth will surely pave the way for balkanization of India, which we need to avoid.

NOTE -

1. Things are out of control,

2. Federal Government of Haryana must take strong measures!

My Viewpoints -

1. When the State / Central Governments and political  parties wish to retain this tool,

2. more and  more  demand for reservation will  arise  in  future,

3. the whole country thereafter may demand reservation which includes upper castes  also,

4. We can imagine, what happens to - Unity?

5. VERY IMPORTANT - THINK  ABOUT IT ! 

END.

Thank you for reading

 JAIHIND.

Next with another topic.