New Delhi: On Tuesday, IBN Live ran a story based on a report in The Economic Times revealing how the Human Resource Development Ministry has decided to foist a new quota regime on some of the premier institutes of the country.
HRD Minister Arjun Singh, has asked state governments to raise reservations from the current 22.5 per cent to as high as 49.5 per cent.
He has asked states to calculate the percentage of backward classes under their jurisdiction and raise the quota cap accordingly.
Here is how some of our readers reacted when they read the report.
Says Amit, "Nowadays Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are no less economically or socially backward than other castes. There are instances when these so-called backward classes are more economically developed than others. If the government wants to do something constructive for them, it should give them help in terms of resources like books, tuitions etc. Please don't make reservations on the basis of caste."
Others like Preethi Mohan agree and go on to ask why deserving people like her should be forced to pay education cess and burn the midnight oil (for a longer period of time now if this quota regime comes through) if they are going to be denied admission just because they belong to general category.
"Why cant the govt subsidize the educational costs of SC/STs who want to study in premier institutes instead of reserving seats for them," she questions.
Let them take the entrance exams like everyone else say readers. Let the Government waver exam and education fee for them, but let them gain admission through pure merit.
Says Mauvin, "We have reached a stage that we have to compete globally and we do not want any reservations based on caste or religion. If the Government is so concerned, they should start special colleges and give full admissions to these candidates and leave alone the existing institutions."
Minu Mukherjee agrees, asking, "Do globally reputed institutes like Harvard and Oxford have a quota for ethnic or religious groups? What needs to be done is to financially encourage people from backward parts of the societyso they can sit for entrance exams and gain admission on the basis of merit. There should be no compromise on merit."
Others like Sreedhar blame the narrow minded and temporary motives cause politicians to formulate laws so that poor and backward class people stay poor but vote for them.
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"In the long run, it's harmful for country. If reservation actually worked, by now most of the so-called lower caste would have formed a part of the mainstream working class in India, logically speaking."
Then there are others who demand a referendum on such issues, instead of letting the Government decide such matters on their behalf.
"They are playing with pur future. Why should I be forced to give up my seat for some students who probably don't deserve the seat and most probably have the money to afford one in any case - because a lot of the people who belong to these "backward classes" are actually not economically challenged," says Sunny.
"49 per cent reservations for SC/ST/OBC's, 10 per cent for Muslims and minorities and 33 per cent for women - and 20-25 per cent for 90 per cent of the population. A perfect recipe for disaster. Put all the pressure on the remaining population so that they study, work and live under pressure and never taste success," says Pritesh.
Others like Namita Rao say that they want the Government to understand that economically backward doesn't exactly mean intellectually backward. "Why can't people belonging to SC/ST classes compete as the others do. Please do not degrade the standards of the few elite institutes left in the country," says she.
And then there is the classic example of Dasd who tells his tale of how when he was a college student, he belonged to an economically backward class, but he studied night and day to make sure he got through a good college.
"I used to share a room with five people. The room had just one lamp in it, but I still managed to study and secure the kind of marks I needed to get into a good institute. Why cannot everyone else do the same? SC/STs . they need to realize that if they are intelligent enough, they can work as well as anyone else and study in any circumstances if they are detemined," says he.
Indeed, the Government needs to understand most readers feel that if this 'policy of appeasement' is actually implemented, it would be playing with the careers of genuine, hardworking students, who deserve to go to good colleges.
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