A solution that has become a problem

Arjun Singh's move to extend reservations in the prestitious Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and medical colleges is not a good sign, or, so I think. Just now I signed a petition opposing this move.

For those who came in late (meaning all those international visitors to this blog who do not know what reservation means) here's a primer.

Indian society is organized along caste lines. A caste is a stamp that one inherits at birth by virtue of ones parents being born into it. Certain castes have money and power and were known as the ruling castes. The lower castes were looked down upon and were economically deprived. To lift the living standards of the lower castes the Indian government decreed that a certain per cent of seats in educational institutions, and jobs in government-owned companies would be set aside for these downtrodden classes, victims of centuries-old persecution and oppression.

This law was mooted in the heady days after independence from British rule and was meant to last for a few years so that after the benefactors reached a certain upliftment, the scheme could be scrapped.

This was mooted as a solution, mind you.

But now the solution itself has become a problem. Here's how.

This reservations of seats in colleges and in government companies have been used to get sympathy of the castes who benefit from such actions. Instead of giving these sections equality and justice these policies are alienating them further.

The per cent of reservation of seats is now around 22.5. This would go upto 49.5 That means around half the students in a class is not chosen for their intellectual merit, but because they were born into a certain caste. What would be the result? The overall quality of these praised-to-heavens institutions would come down.

Students who do not belong to the preferred castes would be disheartened as their chances of getting into these instutions would be hampered. There is great anger among Indian youth and this could compound their frustrations.
India| Reservation| VP Singh| Newspaper| Newspaper