Mandal Commission 2006 re-ignites Caste-Merit debate

Saturday, July 29, 2006 Mandal Commission 2006 reignites Caste-Merit debate... Since ages, mankind is debating on this ironclad question, “Who came first - A hen or an egg???” Quite on the similar line, today Indian society, in wake of Mandal Commission recommendations, again looked divided between the two aspects – Merit or Caste and constantly mooting on which contains the higher priority. Come!!! Let’s find out what's the real fuss all about...? People who support Mandal Commission recommendation like janissaries swear by the fact that India’s 52% population belongs to backward section of the society. Thus, in view of this, they are entitled to half of the seats available in the educational institution. For these people, cast comes before the merit because they fear that students who hail from rural India won’t be able to compete with their counterparts residing in Urban India due to lack of modern education that is imparted to children in the urban class. Thus, to uplift rural people and bring them to the mainstream society, Reservation is a must. On the contrary, antagonists who go against the Mandal Commission recommendations come with a view that in the 21st century, India needs talented people who can uplift the country from “A Developing Country” to “The Developed Nation”. For these people, Mandal Commission recommendations come as an obstacle that could hamper country’s growth and pull down it back into the age of casteism where your last name matters more than the numbers in your mark sheet. Like there are two sides for every coin, each aspect has its implications. With seat reservation for SC/ST/OBC and its proper implementation, one good thing that could happen to our society is the mingling of rural and urban India. In coming days, we can see students living in rural India who are really talented coming to these educational institutions and becoming a part of the mainstream. Besides, these people cal further motivate the coming generation to come forwards and become well educated. On the flip side, there are some serious doubts over its implementation. My own real life experience with the wrongful use of reservation occured when I appeared for Delhi College of Engineering entrance exam. One of my friends, who belonged to the SC/ST grade, got admission in the college despite scoring much lesser than what I got. What was my fault?? I was left out because I belonged to General Category. Thus, there is a genuine fear that this quota system will benefit mostly to the bunch of SC /ST people who are cunning enough to take advantage of their caste and not to those who really need it the most. Similarly, merit system has its inherited advantages. Merit system gives an equal platform to every one in the society to prove their talent and claim the accolades. Probably, this is why IITs and IIMs today have the reputation of forking out the cream of technical and managerial skills available in the country. Undoubtly, with seat reservations, their reputation will come to stake since they need to accommodate students forcefully who might not able to sustain the standards maintain by these premier institutions. But merit system has its share of flaws as well. It is heavily biased towards the genre of students who are living in socially and economically rich pockets and can directly access the experts to tune themselves well with IIT/IIM studies. Practically, we cannot expect the poor farmer who faces drought and floods every year to provide his son the quality education, which is comparable to what students get in urban cities. Often we see the son ending up as the assisting hand helping his father on the field rather than sharing platform with other fellow beings. Thus, to provide equal opportunities for every section, we need some kind of mechanism, which can ensure that no particular section of the society goes heavily biased. Mandal Commission sparks a very sensitive issue which must be dealt with cautiously. Rather than cashing on vote banks (V.P.Singh’s Janta Party or Arjun Singh’s Congress), political leaders should resolve this issue with a right frame of mind since its outcome could influence the country strategically. In my view, the best solution is to implement it for a specific period of time. In other words, we can initially reserve seats for the backward sections for next 5-7 years and during that period of time, we try to uplift these people and include them in the mainstream like by providing them free education at lower grades, subsidized fees for higher studies, providing them basic necessities like electricity, phones, hospitals etc and gradually empower them. Once we achieve this target, we can remove this quota regime and provide everyone the equal platform to showcase their talent. Friends, it was my opinion to resolve this touching issue. I know you all have something to say about this issue especially if you are young or have naughty young ones in your family. Speak out friends… Because in democracy, this is our right as well as duty to say what we think is right… 11:38:39 AM Posted By Mayank Jhanji Comments (0) Politics Comments K.Venugopal This is the first political/social blog on NDTV, though you have blogged earlier on this sphere. Yours is a balanced piece. I agree with your solution - reservation should be time-bound, not to deny benefits accrueing to anyone, but to ensure that no section of our society is perpectually classified as 'needy'. Everyone should be brought on par at the earliest.