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I've been let down. I feel helpless. So be it!"

I feel like I've been let down by the very representatives of people who rule my country. An increase in the reservation quota for backward classes has been mooted by Parliament. The HRD ministry proposed it, the multi-color UPA government okayed it and this is soon going to be law in the state. Looking at the reports, the percentage of reservations can be as high as 53% percent. What good is one's academic merit?

Everybody knows that reservations are not something new. A policy brought in with a view to uplift the really backward classes, it must have served its purpose for a while. From then on it has become a trump card for any ruling party in the center, to get a better grip on the vote bank. I remember when I was in school, it was VP Singh who worked behind continuing the reservations and kept the then Congress goverment going. And now it's the turn of Arjun Singh. Surprisingly nobody gives a damn about merit, not VP singh then and not Arujun Singh now, and none in a position to challenge the move.

May be the policy as implemented was not meant to expire after a tenure. Does that mean that, even in eternity, there would be backward classes still left to be 'uplifted'? If yes, then reservations are not the right solution for the upliftment. And whomever signed the documents to extend the life of the rule were either acting against their will, did not know what they were signing (possibly got to their positions by a reservation), or didn't bother about anything but hanging onto power.

I was disturbed after reading today's Times of India, which affirmed the govt's decision to go ahead with this. I was even more agitated to read through Karan Thapar's interview with none other than Arjun Singh on IBNLive. If you ever suspected that there were dubious intentions behind the minitry's move, read through this and you will be sure. It's all dubious.

The facts speak.

• The percentage of Indian population under OBC: 53 say Mandal Commission, 32 says NSSO (a government body), 29.8 says the National Family and Health survey.


• NSSO reports that 23.5 % of all university seats are already with OBCs, 8.5 percent below the population ratio.


• 50% seats in IITs for SCs and STs remain vacant and a quarter of the remaining are still struggling after six years: an IIT study.


• In Delhi University under-graduate courses, only 50% seats are filled in SC quota and only a third in STs: so says a parliamentary committee.


• A study by Hindustan Times says only 16% of the available 22.5% seats in higher education are occupied by SCs and STs. One third is vacant.

At one point the minister said.. "Well, I don't know I have not come across that so far." Shameless to admit did not know any of these figures and he did not think these are important to frame his new law. Further, do I have to prove that Mandal report has serious calculation (!!!) errors?

If I was to list what part of Arjun Singh's comments sounded outrageous to me, I would copy and paste the whole session here. It's close to 2 months that Youth for Equality is raising their voice against the move through hunger strikes and protest marches. Nobody cares and there are no answers, except may be notices served under the ESMA.

I did not try hard to secure an engineering seat; being ranked around 4500 was more than what I could ask for. But what prompted me to choose a Batchelors in Science the same year, instead of writing the engineering entrance test again, was the insecurity some of my friends put me under when they called up said "I have joined my engineering". Some of them were ranked above 10000 and I was not confident enough to take up the challenge.

Talking about the progress of the nation, a often-heard comparison is with Japan whose rise was phenomenal after the 2nd World War. Keeping aside the geographic and demographic differences, I believe our early leaders were never far sighted. Or may be they had to sit like the monkeys of Mahatma Gandhi; just like our prime minister Man Mohan Singh. Mr. Singh, the best you can do now to keep your dignity is to resign and get back to Harward.

I blame myself for not casting my vote in the last parliamentary elections. But then, the next thing we need is a portfolio of the credits and mis-credits of anybody who wishes to compete in elections.

Tail Piece: Before I published this post, Prabhod came by and there was a discussion on whether one should be irritated about all this stuff. Thanks to him for that nice dialogue. I changed the title of this post from "I've been let down. I feel helpless." to "I've been let down. I feel helpless. So be it!"

posted by ദീപക് -:-Deepak @ 6:05 AM