Reservation Issues

How often you thought that your caste too have got a reservation status? may be some time, may be often, or may not been at all. May be seriously or may be jokingly. I know of some communities who make concerted efforts to be bunched, citing every possible reasons to justify their inclusion. Some communities may have succeeded, some did not. Few others do not give up. Because the reservations are proving to be of beneficial, each one would like to try to get these benefits. As we struggle in life, we sometime dislike those enjoying these reservations. But we hardly think of the miseries,troubles, humiliations and societal ostracism that members of these SC and ST communities have undergone over many generations. Many years ago, my wife while watching TV serial just did not believe that backward classes had to struggle even to get potable water from the village pond or well. She will often ask me if that is true. Yes, it is true. Even today, we see that manual scavenging exists. Now, another storm is brewing in the Indian society. The backward classes want reservation quota in promotion category too. There are some who are opposed. Others are in support. Backward classes believe that despite initial reservations in selection, their conditions do not improve during service period, either because they continue to be discriminated deliberately or they are unable to make as much progress as their background remains a constraint. They point out presence of only fewer members of their community as one rises in the hierarchy. Others point out that merit will be suffer if reservations are introduced during promotion. It is like giving benefits of reservation in perpetuity. There is also an opinion that this move will lead to greater divide between lower caste and upper castes; each caste will try to consolidate to gain upward mobility. We are going to be conditioned to think for ourselves;What about economically backward groups that exists across the caste system that represents social backwardness? And can we separate reservation from that of Woman who too are at receiving ends- due to historical negligence and male chauvinism in the society. Woman reservation bill for representation in the parliament is in cold storage. It is unfortunate that politics of power play a greater role than ethics or logics.

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