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The quota divide Merit can’t be compromised
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ON RECORD
The answer is at school PROFILE DIVERSITIES — DELHI
LETTERS
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The quota divide THE reservation of seats in higher educational institutions has again opened up the quota divide. No doubt, there exists a need for affirmative action for the uplift of the Dalits and backward classes. But to include the land owning and politically powerful castes for seat reservation is hardly justified. One has to draw a line on the basis of caste as caste was the basis of discrimination. And only the poorest of the poor need affirmative action, which could include the lowest among the backward classes. There is no justification for reserving seats for the middle castes who had money and land and who were the annadata of the Brahmins. They faced very little discrimination. If they are educationally backward, it is not because of denial of opportunity. Affirmative action is often justified as there was discrimination for thousands of years. This is a false premise and needs to be put in the correct perspective. No doubt, the Dalits faced discrimination, but not for thousands of years. For 200 years, it was the British who ruled the country and their rule was the same for all Indians. Prior to that, it was Muslim rule for 750 years and everyone bore the brunt. And if one goes back even further, most rulers were Buddhists or from the backward castes. That leaves only a few hundred years, when the high or upper castes had all the openings as temple priests and common soldiers while the middle castes had land and money. The British were the first to feel the need for affirmative action for the Muslims, who they felt had been left behind in education. But was that their real motive? They wanted affirmative action for Muslims who had ruled this country for 750 years and had occupied all seats of power from Emperor to Nawab and Talukdars. They had all the power, money and land. There were poor Muslims, but then every community has poorer sections and everyone could not have been a Nawab. They held all the administrative and judicial posts. Even during the British rule, they occupied many lower administrative and judicial posts. Yet, the British felt the need for affirmative action. The real motive was to sow the seed of divide. Consequently, it culminated in the country’s division. Affirmative action in favour of Dalits and Tribes, even if justified, divides the society on caste lines. Instead of obliterating the caste divide, reservation makes it deeply entrenched. Reservation for the last 55 years have no doubt helped the Dalits, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, who occupy the most powerful positions in political and administrative sphere. They control vast power and people of every caste come to them to get their work done. It has also built up a fairly large middle and upper class among them for whom the best education is within reach. Most of them can even afford education for their children in the US. Having built such a base, the Dalits should now be prepared to assume their rightful positions with dignity and respect by competing on the basis of merit. Merit alone can give them that respect which they cannot get on the basis of reservation — be it in the IAS or in elite educational institutions. Whatever the governments — at the Centre and in the states — might say, merit is bound to be a casualty when seats and jobs are reserved on the basis of caste or any other criteria. Merit should be the only criteria for admission and jobs and reservation on the basis of domicile, sport or institution need to be dispensed with gradually for justice, equity and fairplay. The reservation system that obtains in the US is usually cited to buttress the protagonists’ argument in favour of reservations. But merit is or has never been compromised in the US. Merit is given its due credit and only marginal favour is granted. It is not that a deserving person with a very high score is ignored or discriminated against in favour of someone with a far lower score as is happening in India. While giving merit its due place, one should not lose sight of the fact that the Dalits, the SCs/STs need some affirmative action to help them come to a level from which they would be able to compete on merit. The brightest among them should be given liberal scholarships right from the school level. This should include not only tuition fee but also all expenditure on board, clothes and books. Those who are meritorious enough to get admission in medical and engineering courses be given total scholarship including tuition fee, food, clothing, board and so on. This would benefit only a small percentage of the population as in the case of reservations. To build a large middle class among them, the state can grant them work and contracts. The Dalits and the SC/STs have a vast pool, a reservoir of skills and talent that can be exploited to build their own businesses. The skills that they have are those that are in demand in today’s economy. They should be given grants to open their own shops and become entrepreneurs. The Dalits have a valid grouse. There still exists discrimination in the villages and towns. Every effort should be made to eradicate this caste virus and caste discrimination. Above all, there exists no valid reason to regard any caste as high or low. All castes should be regarded as equal and any reference to any caste being high or low should be deemed illegal, warranting severe punishment. This may not be easy but it is the most important step that needs to be taken to save our society from division and destruction. The reservation system cannot be abolished peremptorily in one go. It needs to be done gradually until we have put in an alternative affirmative action plan in place. But we can have some institutions of excellence that are free from this, a place where the best can direct their hopes and aspirations. To have 85 per cent reservation and then say that it is working in South India is to ignore the fact that those who are denied admissions can aspire to get admission in central institutions. The Dalits and backward castes need equality, dignity, respect and affirmative action so that they would be able to stand up and compete purely on merit and distinction with their friends in the upper castes. However, there is no justification for reservation for the creamy layer among Dalits and backward classes.
The writer is Editor, State Gazeteers, Department of Revenue, Government of
Haryana, Chandigarh.
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Merit can’t be compromised
at any cost HOW hasty can the Central Government become is exemplified by its reaction to the reservation issue by the doctors. Whether former Prime Minister V.P. Singh and his Mandalisation or now Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh who still dreams of being Prime Minister, some politicians will not hesitate to dismantle a perfectly viable and working system for the sake of vote banks. That now Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also buckled to the proposal on enhanced reservation for the Other Backward Classes together with an increase in the general quota shows that there is no long term vision or intent on the part of our leaders to find a solution to the problem. Some simple questions must be asked of our leaders and their replies expected if India is still a democracy. Why at this moment of time has Mr Arjun Singh suddenly popped up this inflammatory proposal, all the time very cleverly quoting the Constitution to buttress his point and very subtly painting that he is the only true Messiah of the downtrodden? The Rs 8,000 crore needed for the increase in the additional infrastructure and faculty notwithstanding, where is the justification for enhancing mediocrity in place of excellence that should have been aimed at: Why is there such a tearing hurry to implement the new proposal by June 2007? Is a possible mid-term election around this time the real reason for this uncalled for distress? During the prolonged agitation of the doctors, hospitals and OPDs were closed. Doctors drove autorickshaws and polished shoes of the passersby to make a point while patients waited in vain for treatment. It is time all right thinking Indians emulated JP’s revolution and brought the government to its senses. It is very easy for the powers that be to whistle up a pro-reservation lobby, confuse the issue, and maintain that there is a divergence of opinion. But how will anyone be convinced that even the creamy layer that has been reaping the quota benefit for decades be offered another slice of the employment cake? Clearly, the new proposal will be at the cost of the general category. All we have done so far is to make the backward classes more dependent on quotas, created a caste divide and encouraged mutual rancour and mediocrity. Any system to succeed must have the requisite infrastructure before enhancing the seats. A perspective plan for a few decades to allow for any unforeseen expansion or resource crunch is a must. Cannot the government compensate the economically depressed by opening up separate learning institutions for them where special care can be taken to bring them up to the requisite standards along with the rest? Should the so-called social justice balancing overrule the imperative need for excellence in a profession where human lives are involved? Does equality in jobs imply dilution of professional standards and excellence?
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ON RECORD
Inspired by his maternal grandfather, Saminuddin, Lok Sabha MP, Asif founded the All India Minorities Front to voice the minorities’ concerns. At 53, Asif has travelled to 135 countries with the President and the Prime Minister and has been a member of the government’s Haj delegation. Excerpts: Q: On the quota issue, is the Centre playing divisive politics? A: The SC/STs were given reservation for 20 years when the Constitution was framed. This is continuing because a lot of SC/ST posts are lying vacant. Moreover, while giving reservation, the government did not make efforts to improve their educational needs at the primary level. As a result, they could not have access to higher education. This led to the backlog of jobs. The OBCs too suffered. The Mandal Commission pegged the OBC population at 52 per cent. It made a mistake by not giving them quota in higher educational institutions. When V.P. Singh evolved the quota formula, he should have given 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in higher educational institutions and services simultaneously. This is the first attempt by the government to secularise reservation and that is why communal elements have been encouraging doctors to continue their agitation. The country has already been divided on caste lines. Today, it is the doctors who have drawn a line that has resulted in the unity of SC/ST/OBCs and minorities. Those in favour of reservation are 85 per cent of the population and they far outnumber the anti-reservationists. Before 1962, when Qayum Ansari, a Bihar minister, began his crusade to uplift the Ansaris of Bihar, there were no OBCs among Muslims. The then Congress government in Bihar spelt out the criterion for an OBC list. In all, 18 caste categories of Muslims were identified for inclusion in this list. Ansaris comprise dyers, weavers, barbers, butchers, washermen and Gujjar Muslims. They have been the worst victims of riots over the years. Q: Are you firm that there should be no rollback of the proposal to give 27 per cent quota to OBCs? A: Yes. I have told Mrs Sonia Gandhi about this. After I met her, a meeting of the UPA Left Coordination Committee was held where they endorsed the proposal. Q: What about the doctors’ demand for an apolitical judicial commission to review the policy? A: We oppose it. The government has already appointed a 13-member Oversight Committee. The government could set up a commission to look into the other demands, but not about quotas. Q: What about the Supreme Court’s directive to the Centre to justify the criteria for identifying particular categories as OBCs and the quantum of 27 per cent quota in Central services and centrally-funded institutions? A: This is welcome. We consider it an exercise in transparency to convince citizens about the Centre’s intentions. Q: How will the Muslims benefit from the proposed reservation? A: About 80 per cent of the total Muslim population (26 crore) are on the OBC list. This is the first time that OBCs including OBC Muslims have been assured of reservation in higher educational institutions. According to a survey, only 1.5 per cent Muslims are occupying top posts in the country. Q: Why did you suggest invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act against the doctors? A: The government’s leniency in handling the agitation has led to problems for the patients because of the crippled services in several hospitals. Q: Is a caste based census necessary for fixing an accurate figure of the total percentage of OBCs (52 per cent estimated by the Mandal Commission)? A: This is a must. When a child is born, he gets a caste label. His position in the social hierarchy is known to the world first. His identity comes later. Q: Why did the convenor of the Parliamenatry Forum of OBC MPs, Hanumantha Rao call off the meeting to discuss the quota issue? A: After he called a meeting of 125 MPs to discuss the quota issue, the Prime Minister told him that it would be discussed in the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting. Subsequently, Rao called off the meeting. |
The answer is at school EVEN as the debate for quotas in higher education rages on, we wonder who these quotas are meant for in a scenario where, seven out of 10 people ever enrolled do not complete schooling and drop out before attaining secondary levels (NSS survey, 2000-01). Amid a creaky, crumbling system of basic education that enables only 4-5 per cent of SCs and less than 4 per cent of STs to cross Class XII, quotas in higher education could smack of only vote bank politics! The government may attempt to crush voices asking for quality elementary education as against reservations, but it is difficult to hide facts. In Punjab, for example, the Amarinder Singh government has admitted that public education is floundering. It proposed to privatise education, following a shocking government study that found 30 per cent of children up to Class V in Punjab couldn’t read or write. Another study of corporation schools in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu found that only 30 per cent of students in the 6-14 age group could do single digit additions required of a Class I student. Incidentally, these two states are the two educationally most advanced states. According to Prof K. Nagaraj of Madras Institute of Development Studies, “The alarmingly low grade of education given out in government schools has given rise to the phenomenon of teaching shops of which there is a proliferation in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. A three-tier system of public education has come about consisting of elite schools for the top few; government schools that give free but shoddy education; and private teaching shops that give very poor education at a very high cost.” Punjab is a case in point. With the dismal teaching standards in government schools, every village has at least three to four private schools. According to the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), the number of requests for affiliation coming in from rural areas is at least one-and-a- half times more than from urban areas. The government’s role in education has been deteriorating. Article 45 of the Constitution puts the onus of ensuring free and compulsory education for children up to the age of 14 on the states. However, even after 59 years of Independence, 6.3 million of children are out of school. Successive Central governments have tabled several bills and announced ambitious plans like the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Prof Nagaraj says these are isolated targeted moves but remain largely uncoordinated. The Centre’s latest move is the draft to ensure the Right to Education to all children in the 6-14 age group. Besides leaving out children below six and above 14, the Bill is not based on the principle of equitable quality of education, says Prof Anil Sadgopal, member of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) which prepared a report on the Bill. “To ensure education of equitable quality, the government has to adopt a central community school system which is based on the principle of neighbourhood schools. It is the government that sows the seeds of inequality and pulls away the level playing field. When merit has been taken away from the poor students, it wants quotas for them,” he says. He further says that the 86th constitutional amendment providing for the right to education lacks teeth as it does not require the state to provide adequate financial resources for education. The new Bill also has no mechanism to punish the state and the authorities for lapses. Instead it holds only three categories accountable — parents, teachers and children. In the Union Budget 2005, the Centre introduced a 2 per cent education cess to fund schooling. But its own expenditure on education has declined through the nineties under successive governments — from 4.4 per cent in 1989 to 2.75 per cent in 1998-99. Its expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in 2005-06 was even lower than in 1985-86. This, despite 40 per cent of funds for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan having come in as grants and aids from foreign agencies. Right from the Kothari Commission, successive commissions have been emphasising the need to raise public expenditure on education to at least 6 per cent of GDP. The low priority given to education is apparent from a recent school report of 14 developing countries in the Asia Pacific prepared by the Global Campaign of Education that ranked India ninth in its support for education, trailing behind Bangladesh, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. The physical infrastructure for schooling is woefully inadequate. The Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE, 1999) found that 89 per cent schools did not have toilets, a condition which deterred girls from attending school. 59 per cent did not have drinking water, 26 per cent did not have blackboards and in 77 per cent of the schools, there were no libraries. Amazingly, in Kurosangi village near Parvatipuram in Andhra Pradesh, there is no school building. Children sit in an open space where the owner keeps domestic animals. Teachers said the state of premises was the main reason why children didn’t attend schools. According to the Approach Paper to the Tenth Plan (2002-2007), net attendance in primary schools was only two-thirds of the enrolment. The abysmal state of schools was also the reason for huge teacher absenteeism, according to a World Bank research project in 2006. It found 25 per cent of teachers at India’s government primary schools absent themselves from work on any given day, and only 50 per cent of those present are actually engaged in teaching. The foundational aspects of competencies need to be strengthened for children to achieve in the later part of their education as well. A real life example is of Manoj Kumar, a student of a slum school — Government Senior Secondary School, Dadumajra Colony, Chandigarh — who was selected for IAS in 2005. As one goes around this school, one is not met with the stark disparity between a public and private school. The school boasts of a computer lab with 26 fully functional computers. It has a well stocked library. The nursery room with picture-painted walls has toys for children. The over enthusiasm of the school authorities led to the introduction of English medium in Classes I-III. This, however, is just a solitary example of a good public school. It is only when the entire public education system in the country is strengthened on these lines that others like Manoj, son of a vegetable vendor, can become an IAS
officer.
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PROFILE Barely three months back, he had reportedly said that entering politics would be last resort. Has he changed his mind? Bajaj has told TV channels that entering the Rajya Sabha does not mean he is joining politics. He is not joining any political party, remains independent and has no desire to become a minister. Rahul Bajaj has grown up in true Congress culture and, therefore, his seeking support of the Shiv Sena and the BJP raises many eyebrows. He is the grandson of Jamnalal Bajaj, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He had come to be known as the fifth son of Gandhiji. He had fought for India’s Independence and was imprisoned during the British Raj. His son, Kamalnayan Bajaj (Rahul’s father), too, was a Gandhian and had associated himself with the freedom movement during its last phase. Kamalnayanji took over his ancestral business when he was barely 27. That was the year 1942 when the Quit India Movement was in full swing. As he was very much involved in the freedom struggle, he could not fully devote himself to the family venture. As a result, the business suffered. It was only after India became independent in 1947 that he concentrated on the Bajaj Group of Industries founded by Jamnalalji as far back as 1926. The credit of consolidating the group and diversifying its manufacturing units goes to Kamalnayanji. Rahul took over the charge of the Bajaj Group in 1965. Under his leadership, the turnover of the Bajaj Auto, the company’s flagship, has gone up from Rs 72 million to Rs 46 billion. The group is among the top 10 business houses in India and its footprint stretches over a wide range of industries, spanning two-wheeler and three-wheeler scooters, home appliances, lighting, iron and steel, insurance, travel and finance. The Bajaj Auto is ranked as the world’s fourth largest scooter manufacturer and the Bajaj brand is well known in over a dozen countries in Europe, Lain America, the US and Asia. Rahul himself made a mark in the corporate world, having established his credentials as one of India’s most distinguished business leaders. He is internationally respected for his business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit. There was a time when the ‘Quota permit Raj’ called the shots; there was no entrepreneurship and business houses could not do a thing without government approval. India’s most commonly used transportation —motorised scooters — was limited to producing just 20,000 units. The demand and supply were completely out of tune. Imagine the days when there was government quota for scooters and Fiat cars and it was considered a great favour if one could get either of the vehicle from official pool. If a customer adopted the routing course and placed an order for a scooter or car, he might have to wait for a decade for his turn to come. In this situation, Rahul Bajaj took up the cudgels and launched his own type of Civil Disobedience Movement. He defied the government regulation and raised the production capacity to more than the permitted level. He was quoted then as saying, “if I had to go to jail for the excess production of a commodity that most Indians needed, I didn’t mind”. Bajaj’s anti-establishment drive prevailed, and by the beginning of 1980s, Bajaj Auto had increased its annual production to 1,72,000 vehicles. Now with revenues of $1.5 billion and a market capitalisation of $3 billion, the company sells nearly two million vehicles per year in India and other developing countries in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. As a young boy, Rahul had not nurtured political ambition but he was keen to become a businessman at the age of 12. His grandfather had bought a steel mill and started a sugar mill, and in 1945, his father founded the Bajaj Auto. Having graduated from New Delhi’s St Stephen’s College with an honours degree in economics, Rahul’s only ambition was to further his family business. In 2002, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to industry. Rahul is now all set to enter the portals of Parliament. Yet, he says he does not want to join politics. How long can he keep away from the weird world of
politics?
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DIVERSITIES — DELHI
LETTERS AREN’T we indulging in great extremes? On the one hand, we overlook the rot spreading around us. And on the other, we talk fiercely of righteousness and more along the strain. Consider what has happened at 7 Safdarjung Road, the residence of slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. Upper middle class men and women are finding their way into pubs, bars and discos. The poor unleash their frustrations in shabby dens. The frequency of those frequenting these jaunts increasing with tie-ups, sexual or asexual, compounding the chaos. Increasing the fury and want in an emotional vacuum of sorts. Till about there are eruptions and hell breaks out. Our hypocrisy-ridden system suddenly gets cracking. With an overdose of politics to further compound the mess. Not to overlook the moral policing brigades. In Rahul Mahajan’s case, these brigades are yet to react, perhaps, because invariably these are backed by right wing political parties. That nauseating mix and match of politics and power getting so pervading that it’s difficult to break the nexus and see sense. In fact, our system has become so murky that while the political figure is alive and at the peak, there is an whole array of flatterers circling around him. This was actually detailed to me by writer Patrick French. About three years back, when he had come to New Delhi for the launch of his book, Tibet, Tibet, he had told me that he was busy working and researching on his next book which would focus on the current Indian politicians. It’s sad that there has been neither collective mourning nor introspection on what has been happening. For, it is not just a simple case of several young men standing accused as addicts and more. We, as a people, are to be blamed for the rot that has set in, rather the rot that we have so fashionably allowed and often encouraged to set in. With party politics along severely lopsided communal lines taking up the waking hours of a great majority of the so-called political leaders, who has the time to find out what the young are up to? And the arrest of any youth — cutting across religious and political lines — should make us all go into deep introspection. I can’t help but quote Kahlil Gibran. Farsighted that this philosopher was, though he had written these lines several decades back, they hold out much and I quote them rather too often: “Often times have I heard you speak of one who /commits a wrong as though he were not one of you /but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world ./But I say that even as the holy and the righteous /cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you ,/So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than/ the lowest which is in you also. /And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the /silent knowledge of the whole tree /So the wrongdoer cannot do wrong / without the hidden will of you all /Like a procession you walk towards your god-self ...And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall /look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom too.” The Rahul Mahajan episode should make us introspect and see the dimension of the rot and more. Instead of condemning it, it requires reaching out. Like the communal virus even this bug that is gnawing at the social fabric needs be tackled collectively. Life in Tihar
Jail I can’t help but recollect what journalist Iftikhar Gilani had told me about the seven months he had spent in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail. He had recounted how prisoners and even undertrials were beaten up and tortured “along the lines of what you would see in those period films depicting Roman soldiers torturing inmates…” Gilani was categorical that the present jail structure doesn’t seem to reform the inmate. “Even a petty criminal could emerge out as a worse criminal …the jail staff’s attitude is frightening. You could be slapped and beaten for just about nothing and there’s no authority one can complain to, for then there is the fear of a further backlash. As a prisoner you are entirely at the mercy of the jail staff and also at the mercy of the hardened criminals lodged…” This makes me think aloud — what is the purpose of a jail? To slowly and silently choke a person or suspect who has committed a crime. Maybe, the crime committed outstretches the penalty the offender has to pay for. I wish the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) suggests some other ways of settling the offender — some humane ways and not through the abuse and use of the physical force at the disposal of the jail staff. Why cannot batches of undertrials be taken to earthquake affected villages and made to work for rehabilitation and more? Maybe, their interaction with the affected villagers change their outlook and help them settle their troubled selves. For just by stuffing a human being in some crowded cell, the government cannot transform him into a better being. And if there is the fear of the undertrials escaping etc, then keep a watch on them through various advanced tactics at the disposal of the police and intelligence agencies. The NHRC should try to find out a suitable way to tackle this
problem. |
When a king amasses his wealth, establishes the might of his kingdom and makes a name for himself; he is not content to enjoy it alone. He invites his kinsmen and friends so that they may gaze on his creation and pay homage. — The Mahabharata God does not pardon setting up partners to God but pardons anything else for anyone, by divine will. And whoever attributes partners to God has invented a serious wrong. — Kabir The ways of good appear difficult while that of evil appear easy. That is why a man works at good things slothfully and at evil things with eagerness. When a man does good things carelessly, he does not get the full benefits that should have accused to him. — The Buddha You should restrain your anger and be forgiving towards mankind — The Koran
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S.M. Asif, National President of the All India Minorities Front (AIMF), called for social boycott of anti-reservationists during the recent agitation. Emphasising that the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes are indispensable in a society, he called upon the Jatav, Nai, Dhobi and Balmiki communities to withdraw and suspend day-to-day services to anti-reservationists. Born in Patna, Asif attended the Patna Science College in 1974 and participated in the JP movement during the Emergency. The same year he launched an Urdu newspaper “Jadeed In Dinon” from Patna and English and Hindi editions of the newspaper in 1994.
RAHUL
BAJAJ, known as second most respected leader of the corporate world, ranks the 20th richest person in India. He hails from a family that was in the forefront of the freedom struggle. Will he keep up his record and make a good Member of Parliament now that he appears certain to enter the Rajya Sabha? Having nurtured a long-time ambition of becoming Member of Parliament, Bajaj says he would talk of what he believes to be right for the nation. Even though the Shiv Sena and the BJP, besides Sharad Pawar’s NCP, have been supporting him for the June 15 by-election from Maharashtra, Bajaj asserts: “I will not support one political party or the other, but I will support India”.