One thoughtless political decision, one giant setback for meritocracy

Never write off politicians. Just in case you did, they have come back. They were ignored for a long by youth, who gave a damn to them. They lost their front page print media space and their time share on TV channels to shining stars of India Inc. Dalal Street started making more news than Indian Parliament and I thought we are moving forward. Moving forward to building an India where the country has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls of religion, caste and gender. I thought we are inching towards making India a country that is built on foundation of meritocracy, an economic powerhouse where results matter and not reasons, a future that puts the ghosts of our political blunders to rest and a political environment where youth can stand united and fight to regain and restore India’s supremacy. They yet again proved me wrong.

The Human Resouce Ministry has recently proposed to introduce reservations for other backward classes in higher education institutes, including the IITs, IIMs and 20 central universities. If implemented the overall reservation in the central government institutions will be from the current 22.5% for SC and ST students to 49.5%. The politics of reservations is back and for politicians definitely make great sense ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections next year where the OBC vote could change the political landscape.

I was in school when Mandal commission report stirred the whole country. I still can’t unremember the burning pictures of Rajeev Goswami (The poster boy of anti-Mandal agitation, 1990) on India Today cover page and what followed it. It started the series of self-immolation incidents all over India. He was a Hero for me in my childhood and in my teenage years I developed a sense of anger for reservation due to the cost I paid. Rajeev never got a government job and died a lonely and unnoticed death last year. Barring a few cursory references to the act that had once catapulted him to iconic status, it was an unsung death. Why Rajeev Goswami died unsung? It’s because India has changed so dramatically in the last 15 years that neither the cause he espoused with such violence, nor the methods his opponents employed to crush the agitation are relevant today. But I guess there are still people around who want to bring back the ghost of Rajeev.

I believe with age come wisdom but I guess not for politicians. Though I had been deeply involved in caste based politics and gang rivalries during my early undergrad college days, I matured and put behind the caste discrimination. Our politicians still seem to be stuck with caste based politics. My point is that everybody needs to be judged based on his/her capability. In what caste one is born is something which he/she doesn’t have a control on. So why differentiate based on caste? Are we saying that everyone born in upper caste is born with a silver spoon? Are we to believe that all backward caste families are below poverty line in India? Yes, we need to support under privileged social groups to elevate them to even levels in social strata but at what stages and up to what extent? India has had reservation system in place from ages and politicians need to accept that it has not worked the way it was envisaged. If we want to do the same thing over and time again but expect different results, that’s pure insanity. This caste based reservation has just divided the nation at grass root levels.

The recent government proposal is a giant setback for meritocracy and forced me to initiate this caste Vs merit debate. I don’t believe that caste should be criteria for reservation; rather it should be economical status of an individual. If you want upper caste kids from lower middle class families to score almost double marks than their lower caste, higher class counterparts and still be out on stands, go ahead. If you want to penalize him/her because he/she is born in an upper class family, go ahead. If you want few more Rajeev Goswami, go ahead. Else, rethink.

This post is an expression of my personal views. I do not intend to offend any body. If you agree with me, please sign the petition against proposed reservation (Link below). I do not know if this will change anything but I still want to do my bit for supporting a cause:

http://www.petitiononline.com/No_Quota/