The book Tom Browns School Days was more or less mandatory reading for school-boys a couple of generations ago. I still remember one sentence: There is an end to everything in life and that is the important point. It referred to Tom Browns first day at school when, as the newest boy, he was the last one in the list. As the names of the boys were called, Tom Brown was getting more and more anxious whether his turn would ever come and, when it did, if he would be able to respond. The important point is, it did happen, his turn did come and he was able to respond. But that is another story. Our Constitution-makers introduced reservation only for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in jobs and in admissions to colleges, and that too for ten years, though with possible extensions if need be. They rejected Dr Ambedkars suggestion that it should be for a fixed period of 30 or 40 years, with no provision for extension. Thus, the system has been extended every ten years, for nearly 70 years. The scheme has also been extended to backward castes, Other Backward Castes and Most Backward Castes as well. It has created such a vested interest that there appears to be no way that it will ever end. Unlike Tom Browns attendance, the important point does not seem to happen; there appears to be no end to the process of reservation. I think the reservation system is being perpetuated, not out of hatred for the upper castes, but because it has become an enormous source of wealth for the beneficiaries. It will probably come to an end not because of opposition or even criticism from the affected communities but because the beneficiaries get tired of it and give it up on their own. Caste is a permanent attribute that cannot be removed or lost. Thus, reservation based on caste has identified certain communities as deserving and some others as undeserving of government patronage for all time. If reservation had been based not on caste but on income — for instance, for all BPL families — practically no Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe would have been excluded, but the beneficiaries would have changed every generation. Further, it should not have been at the tertiary level; but at the primary and secondary level in the best schools in the country. Then, the bitterness of caste divisions would not have been politically perpetuated as they are now. As matters stand, I am not sure when the important tipping point — that there is an end to everything in life — will ever occur in this case.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 21:04:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015