Reservations: What I feel.

For the sake of maintaining some amount of homogeneity in the issues I am going to talk about, I confine myself to reservations to SC/STs and OBCs.

Reservations are part of affirmative action by the State to ensure equal opportunities for growth and to protect the citizens from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. Constitution of India has clear provisions empowering the state to take affirmative action. Articles on fundamental rights were amended repeatedly to make sure they do not come in the way of affirmative action by state. The whole Part IV having Directive Principles of State Policy, though not justiciable and enforceable in courts, nevertheless reflects the responsibility the constitutional makers have put on the State. Articles 15(4), 15(5), 16(4) and 46(not justiciable) have explicit provisions for reservations.

However constitution identifies only Scheduled castes, Scheduled Tribes and socially and educationally backward classes as the ones eligible for reservations. After Champakam Dorairajan Case(1950) and subsequent 1st amendment to constitution, reservations to SC/STs was never contested. It was reservations to backward classes that had increasingly became central to the politics of Independent India.

Rise of backward castes by the end of 1980s marked a watershed in the Indian political scene. Reservations were first implemented in govt. jobs after Supreme Court approval in the famous Indira sawhney case(1992) (popularly known as Mandal case). Later it was only in 2008, after Ashok Kumar Thakur v. Union of India case(2008) that they were extended to educational institutions.

The policy of reservations is a great idea designed to create an equal society out of the hugely stratified traditional Indian society. But, as opposed to many pro-reservationists, it is not a solution. It can never be a solution. One cannot hope for an equal society while repeatedly treating the people as unequals.

The problem with the policy of reservations is the way they are implemented. They were supposed to be reviewed every 10 years(for SC/STs , constitution need to be amended every 10 years, and every 5 years for OBCs as per Supreme Court's order in Mandal commission case(1992) and in Ashok Kumar Thakur case(2008) ). But no such thing is done till now. Every time, after 10 years they were extended like a holy ritual. It is undeniable that most of those who enjoyed the benefits reservation in these 60 years are relatively well off both socially and educationally in their own communities and by any standards, can not be classified as Socially and educationally backward. Due to lack of review of the policy of reservation, there arose an elite group within each community to which reservations are available, which is cornering most of the benefits of reservations. So the benefits of reservations are not truly going to socially and educationally backward. Today, as far as I have seen, almost 80% of those entering into IIT under reserved category are the ones who do not deserve the benefits of reservation under the criteria of backwardness.

Another controversial issue was the use of castes as basis to identify backward classes. Here also, reservations to SCs on the basis of caste were never contested. In the case of backward classes, the constitution only said socially and educationally backward classes, it never talked about castes(in fact Articles 15(1) and 16(1) prohibit discrimination of citizens on the basis of caste). But India's peculiar conditions of caste system gives sufficient ground for using castes to decide backward classes. Even Supreme Court repeatedly changed its stance on this issue. In Balaji v. State of Mysore(1963) case, it rejected specification of backward classes on the basis of caste, commenting that though the caste of a group may be relevant in identifying the backward class status, the importance of caste should not be exaggerated. Same court in Rajindran case(1968) said "a caste is also a class of citizens", and then in Periakaruppan case(1973) said that "a caste has always been recognized as a class". In the subsequent cases, though it expressed concerns about inherent drawbacks in using caste for the classification of citizens into classes, nevertheless accepted it with some modifications. Anti-reservationists argue that, caste based reservations are dividing the society and only furthering the evils of caste system. This argument is not exactly true, because the very aim of reservations involve dividing citizens and give emphasis to certain divisions. It is true to a large extent, thought there are some distortions in some cases, that a large portion of population in castes classified as backward castes indeed are backward. Practically, there is no other way to classify citizens to better reflect the social backwardness.

Most anti-reservationists talk about emphasizing economic backwardness than social or educational backwardness. But they fail to understand that social backwardness is not always synonymous to economic backwardness. Though it may be that the social discrimination(based on caste) has almost disappeared in urban areas, in rural areas, caste discrimination still exists.

Another argument of anti-reservationists is regarding merit. It should be noted that merit is an outcome of socio-cultural and educational environment one experiences since birth. Merit need not be the sole criteria for admissions into educational institutions and appointments to jobs. The criteria should be something that will benefit the society at large in the long run, and not just increasing the efficiency or productivity. Tamilnadu, the only state in which reservations for appointments are more than 50%(exact figure is around 67% if I am not wrong), is one of the best administered states in the country.

Creamy layer must be excluded from benefits of reservations in the case of OBCs. In the case of SC/STs it may not be a good idea to use the criteria of creamy layer, without conducting a detailed study of effect of reservations on SC/STs . The case of ST/STs is different because, as the Supreme Court puts it, historically they faced social exclusion in contrast to social deprivation faced by OBCs.

As I already said, reservations alone can never be a solution. Mandal commission's other recommendations such as progressive land reforms, special educational facilities to upgrade the cultural environment of students such as special emphasis on vocational training and separate coaching facilities for students aspiring to enter technical and professional institutions, creation of adequate facilities for improving and upgrading the skills of village artisans, subsidized loans for setting up small scale industries, setting up a separate chain of financial and technical bodies to assist entrepreneurs were practically ignored by successive governments.

Reservations are a temporary arrangement to correct the historical mistakes of Indian society. In the long run, at some point of time, we have to remove things such as reservations which emphasize divisions among society. Otherwise it becomes difficult to develop a sense of commonness and nationhood. State must treat all its citizens equally. Moreover reservations as they are already, are increasingly becoming a cause of social unrest. The lower sections of forward classes and certain sections of Minorities are already discontent with policy of reservations. The number of castes in reserved categories are only increasing, which again questions the efficacy of reservations as a tool for social upliftment.

New classes are demanding reservations and governments are increasingly under pressure to extend reservations to them. Yesterday it was for SC/STs and OBCs, today it is for Minorities, tomorrow it will be for economically backward in forward classes and day after tomorrow it will be something else. On the whole population to which benefits of reservations are available is only increasing. Politically it is very hard to remove castes/classes from the quota of reservations.
93rd amendment empowering the state to extend reservations to private educational institutions is already raising questions regarding fate of competence of Indian institutions in this era of Globalization.

So, it is time to review the policy of reservations and look for better alternatives that would suit the fast changing socio-economic conditions of citizens of India.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas: Bridging the gap between Rural and Urban education

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas are the premier schools established by Govt. of India to provide modern education to the talented children predominantly from the rural areas, without regard to their family's socio-economic conditions. Usually each district in the country(except in Tamilnadu) has one JNV. They were supposed to serve as focal points for improvements in quality of school education in each district. There are around 500 JNVs in the country. The first JNV was established in 1986.

I myself is an alumnus of JNV Nalgonda.

Unlike many other government schemes that went into the pages of history without making any significant impact on the society, Navodaya system was considered to be one of the most successful efforts of Govt. of India towards the promotion of quality education among the poor and underprivileged.

The remarkable feature of JNVs is their rural character. Almost all the campuses of JNVs (which are essentially residential) are located in rural areas, often away from any human habitation. Every year 80 students are taken into 6th class through an aptitude test that is composed of questions related to mental ability, elementary mathematics and some verbal ability. 75 % of the seats are reserved for students from rural areas. Seats are reserved for SCs/STs according to the proportion of their population in the district. Also admission procedure ensures that 1/3rd of the students are girls. They provide everything that is required to the student to be able to unleash all her/his creative energies. There is no need for any general store/stationary shop as everything from pens, refills, soaps, towel, toothpaste, shoes, bathroom slippers, uniform to mess, library, play-kits are provided by the school free of cost. They even provide traveling charges to go home during vacations. Note that all these facilities are essential to provide education at par with urban public schools since the students with rural background simply cannot afford them on their own.

The schools aim at all round development of students. Every student till 10th class has to attend compulsory classes in drawing, music and other cultural activities. Everyday 2-3 hours are completely dedicated to games and sports.

They are noted for the freedom they give to students which ultimately makes the student self-motivated and self sustaining.

The most important feature of navodaya system is the program of Migration. Under this 30% of students in 9th class are mutually exchanged between two different schools(usually the two schools belong to a hindi state and a non-hindi state). The aim of this is national integration(The tamil-lovers opposed this and hence no JNV is established in Tamilnadu). The students spends an year in a school different from that of his home district and in a different state from his home state. I myself spent an year in the remote Panna district in Bundhelkhand region. That is how I came across the vastness, diversity and a fundamental unity of people and cultures across my country.

The importance of navodaya lies in the fact that they produce not just the students of high intellectual quality but an army of citizens conscious of their responsibility and duty and dedicated towards building a prosperous India.

Reservations for girls and SC/STs also worked more positively in case of navodayas. Unlike many other educational institutions, where most of the benefits of reservations are cornered by well-off individuals or the urban middle class in respective groups, it did not happen in case navodayas. This is because of the reservation to rural areas. 90% of the reserved category students are really from economically weak background. In fact it often happens that the students from SC/STs are more than what are reserved to them.

Like every other govt institution, JNVs are also plagued with many problems. Maladministration , corruption, lack of discipline among students, deteriorating quality of teachers are some of them. Though there is excellent education up to 10th class, often 11th and 12th classes are neglected by both students and teachers. Students, though intelligent, coming out of relatively shielded and isolated environment of school, are finding it hard to survive in this world of cut-throat competition.

What I liked most in navodaya is not these facilities and not even the quality education they provided. It is the atmosphere of creativity and innovation that generally prevails in the campus in contract to many other schools(infact the whole schooling system in India). We made mathematical models out of wood, built small houses out of earth, made instruments to measure height of a water tank from the ground. I myself being from a rural area would not have been here in IIT if it is not Navodaya.

Corruption: A Crime against Humanity

"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it"
--Mark Twain

A few days ago I found myself arguing with one of my friends who says corruption is essential. This is new. I heard people say that corruption is inevitable and necessary to deal with certain circumstances in a more rational way. These are statements that come out of desperation. But, to say it is essential only show how deep the notion of corruption became a part of our daily life. People, as they found how they can never get away from corruption, started thinking of ways to rationalize the use of corruption through their experience and wisdom.

It is said that corruption in Independent India first came as political corruption. Then political corruption paved the way for administrative corruption. Politics in India is one of the most profitable profession. The truth is that there is no limit to the profits in this profession. A young MP from Andhra Pradesh showed Income tax of around 70 crores this year and the same thing last year was a few lakhs. From where does he got so much wealth in one year? Recent Madhu Koda affair did not shock many of us. We all know that he is not the only one among his cult (Note that he is not part of any established political party and that may be the reason why he is caught . In fact corruption charges are never laid against a politician when his party is in power and the rare cases of trial and conviction always happen when his opponents are in power) It is said that black economy in India accounts for more than 20% of GDP. This is the amount of wealth of the nation that is going into the secrete swiss bank accounts of corrupt politicians, administrators, businessmen.

For the rich and affluent corruption may be a nuisance. For the middle class it is a burden. But, for the lower classes it is a curse. A rickshaw-puller in Kanpur has to pay on an average 1/6 of his earnings to policemen. Poor families who lost their bread earner in some accident or a terrorist attack has to wait for years, has to wet the hands of many government officers to finally get govt compensation. Corruption that affects those who lost everything in a natural disaster, pensions of aged old men, widows, children, daily wage earners is really a crime against humanity.

Corruption forms the core of India's underdevelopment besides the historical backwardness. Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi once lamented that only 16 paise of every rupee spent by the government reaches the intended beneficiary.

Centralized administration has created more and more middle men. Decentralization of governance must be our first step towards corruption-free administration. Today , even after more than 15 years after local bodies(panchayats and municipalities) were constitutionally recognised(Note that there bodies are in existence in India since time immemorial ) , we still find state governments reluctant to divulge some of their powers to them. Use of Information and Communication technology in governance will also removes middlemen. It is interesting to note that the goodlooking and well-informative websites of government departments are those of Union Territories which are practically governed by bureaucrats. Who will educate our politicians about the benefits of IT ??

It is widely accepted that it is the duty of the educated especially the intelligentsia to take the society forward. But, in India unfortunately, it is the educated who indulge more in corruption. Surely, it is the problem of our education system that it is not able to make a person aware of what is good for society in which he/she lives. Our examination system has almost made learning a mechanical process.

Corrupt must be socially boycotted.

No political propaganda can succeed if people do not feel its seriousness. People must be made aware of the seriousness of the problem of corruption. There is a lot of publicity and public uproar on multi crore scandals, but no one say a word on the Rs .100 that citizen has to pay to get drivers license, to get passport, to a ration shop dealer, to escape the wrath of a policeman etc. In fact it is these Rs.100 bribes that affect more lives than multi-crore scandals. Corruption is corruption whether it is Rs.100 or Rs. 10000.

The laws must be made more stringent. The vigilance and law enforcement agencies still have to take permission from government to start investigations. In fact there are very few provisions for recovery of money lost due to corruption.

Abdul Kalam once said that if a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.

As for the political corruption, people get what they deserve. Corrupt politicians win elections as long as we vote them. In fact many in India do not even consider vote to be a potential weapon.