Mr. Bidwai, I amnot sure which era of social justice are u talking of but I have rarely seen shudra and Brahmin discrimination of the kind you have talked of. Affirmative action is a very convenient name to reservations.After mandal commision report, many state governments have increased quotas of one or the other kind to laughable levels of 60%(Example Tamil Nadu and UP). Even our consitution required quotas for a period of ten yrs and we have seen only the increase in them. Now bringing religion into equations, you are just distorting social justice. I think the people who need reservations the most are economically weaker sections as they may be Muslims, Hindus, Christians whatever. Everybody has equal access to education and if merit doesnot determine where one should be,then I am afraid it's not social justice at all. Plus people whom you call high caste, they see it as particularly degrading way to cheat them of opportunities be it education and jobs alike. Now for efficiency, if sick private units are lying with capital figures you mentioned, there are far more money tied up with PSU's but why communists will care. Reservation is hardly an instrument for social change.
Really good article indeed.. The reason india is so backward is because a vast section people ( SC/STs and OBCs ) aren't allowed to use their potential to the fullest.. A priviledged section of the society through its network and descrimination against SC/STs and OBCs has kept all the education /jobs etc for themselves.. Because of most of these untalented and unwise people handling many important things india couldn't get out of its poverty and backwardness in virtually all fields from sports to art, movies etc. Its high time it implemented the postiive descrimination and affirmative active .. The priviledged few through their organisations like RSS/BJP will shout how it would affect the merit/quality etc. They will try to disrupt it by stoking religious hatred and taking people's attention to other things. But India must prevail.. It should keep the example of US in Mind.. Through empowering all minorities, it has reached to dazzling heights in all the fields of human excellence.. India with its billion people can reach even greater heights, if only all of its subjects could use their skills and potential to their fullest..
I empathise with the writer's view but i dont quite agree. I am employed at a company in US and though our company has affirmative action policy we hardly have any minorities and that is purely because of merit. The reason given by the author's managers at TOI seem to be true. I doubt any interviewer who is educated (as expected) would ever consider somebody's surname or caste as a deciding factor. Maybe it happens in a few cases but it would be a case of a few bad apples. I dont agree that this is how it is in India. Yes many people from backward classes need help but they can be given free education but not jobs or degrees just because they belong to a certain class, high or low. Opportunities existed in our country for people to flourish even before independence. Dr. Ambedkar wouldnt have been a doctor otherwise. People have studied and worked hard and got jobs in IAS, Defence and Private sector. Discrimination is an excuse for Incompetence. Those who work hard are always rewarded.
It is a perfect example of u urself being one-sided. U plead hard for reservation to SC/STs but for muslims u have no ear to spare. Not that I want reservation for the muslims. But neither do I belive in reservation for SC/STs. IT brings alienation to the whole community. Stop being communal urself and then guide others. Ur explanation for muslims not being given reservation but proper education holds equally good for SC/STs. So why dont u allow them to raise their level, and then join main-stream. The idea of reservation itself is not a solution at all. The gr8 Dr. B R Ambedkar saw this point himself n recommended resrvation only for a few years but look where it has gone. The political implications of pulling back reservation are so high that no party dare do that.
So its better that all economically under-privilidged are given good education and made to progress independent of race, religion or sex.
MAKE A NATION PROGRESS BY MAKING THE POOR RICHER, NOT THE RICH POORER
I am appalled at the quality of some of the writers in rediff. The funniest part is at the end where he justifies that for the Muslims education and such will be the solution, but for Dalits we still need reservations .. lol ..
I agree that there are gross inequalities that exist in our society to date. But reservation and quotas is not the solution. If that is the case then why has the situation not improved after 14 years of the Mandal commission being passed. If at all we should have reservation it should be on the basis of economic standing.
The comparisons with U.S. is not relevant in this context. If reservations are started in the private sector, then by the next election 50% of pvt sector jobs will be allocated to the so-called Dalits. The affirmative action in the U.S. is not used as a political agenda and rival parties dont use that as a benchmark to attract the minority vote.
Personally it makes me ashamed of being a Hindu on reading the Manusmriti .. Citing this as a justification for reservation is just prepostrous.
I have lived in India through until I was 28. Throughout the period, I never hated a Dalit for being a Dalit. I treated everyone with equal respect. However, I found that many of the Dalits hated me for being a Brahmin. They would openly abuse me for being a Brahmin, something I could not retaliate to legally. Would somebody please think about reservations for people who fall in my class? The class of people who do not believe in castes, who believe in merit and merit alone. What my forefathers did can not be blamed on me. I am an individual. That is why it is illegal in USA to reverse discriminate against whites. Individuals are higher here than their racial identity. Contrary to author's views, the hiring practices here did not change as a result of EEOC. That will be discrediting a lot of black and hispanic hardworking students and professionals. This was due to efforts of these individuals and desire on the part of privileged individuals to do justice to merit. This is the nature of USA. Hence we do not have reservations here. That is why the meritorious of India are running away to USA.
hi, I work in an MNC in USA. Mr. Bidwai quoted many examples of how companies like IBM and Ford has such a good represntaion of minorities. But inequalities do exist in the US society too. 20% of the black males end up in jail one time or other. 40% of the black kids are poor. Even when there are minorities in different MNC's, only very few blacks and hispanics do land up in the higher paying jobs in all these companies. This is particularly true of the newer technological sectors like IT and Biotech. So while I agree certian things that the author says, the grass always looks greener on the other side.
RE:grass always greener.....
by Kaushik on Aug 19, 2004 08:03 AM
Companies like IBM do not have a good representation across groups because of reservations. It is due to the policy of non-discrimination. Companies like IBM took in women on the basis of merit and merit alone even before there was any law against discrimination on grounds of sex. So, merit IS the key. These companies did not consciously search for women to employ. They gave "equal" opportunity to women who wanted to be employed. Also, going by Bidwai's logic of reservations, half of all workforce should be women. But are there 1 billion jobs in India?
Well I like to ask the places where Dalit discrimination has occurred ? In cities or Village...then why take a few instances and generalize them ?? As a brahmin, i have faced discrimination everywhere whether it is in education, jobs or general life...either due to reservations or because of SC/ST thugs who are in a position soley because of their caste...Praful, let me ask u one question how many Brahmin MP are there in parliment ?? maybe less than 10 out of 540..comapre this with SC/ST and Backwards..
RE:Reservation criteria
by vijay on Aug 21, 2004 04:57 PM
Dear Pramod, Despite the brahmins being 10 out of 540 in the parliament they are to be found in plenty in places where it matters, just look at the chart below.
Position % of brahmins Governors 50 Judges of supreme court 56 Chief secretary of states 54 Judges of High court 50 Ambassadors 41.5 Chancellors/VCs 51 CEOs of corporations 42
Mr.Bidwai, you have no idea how anti-India you are! I don't know if you belong to upper caste or lower caste. But just because you are allowed to write, you write crap always about people at the top. You hate excellence. Why would a dalit study if he knew he would get admission if he scores just 50% whereas a guy from upper caste needs to get 90%? People like you think you are helping the lower caste but you are simply destroying their future. There should be a social change so that the dalits are accepted in the mainstream like anybody else but offering them (or anybody for that matter) a special treatment is saying goodbye to merit. Give special coaching to dalits in public schools so that they can compete with other people & aim for that 90% but please dont instigate people to study just for that 50%. Thats the least you can do to this country, if you actually belong to India.
