Disclaimer: These are just my views. People may or may not agree. Please do not get into comment-fights with me.
Whenever the admission season comes, this issue bugs me - QUOTA.
Does quota system really help? Is giving reservations based on caste truly a tool for social upliftment?
Quota, according to me, infact makes people lazy. You get admission through quota, you can get jobs through quota, your kids get admission through quota...and so on. Isn't this ease of getting things a deterrent for true progress?
Is it so that people from some particular castes have lesser brains compared to others? Why are the cut-offs made so low for them? It really pains when one sees a brilliant student from Open category not getting admission to a particular institute just because of a couple of marks' difference and another who obviously is not so good in academics getting the admission with a much lesser score. Such people are also generally from well-to-do families who do not need such benefits, but get them just because the system allows them to. There are also concessions in fees given, even if it is clearly visible that the person is rich enough to afford the education. A deserving candidate from open category, however, wont get such benefits even if he really needs them. A simple caste certificate gives you access to host of benefits whether or not you need them. Merit and true need have no place in our system
Women's quota is somewhat better than caste based quota. However, just having a quota does not address the issue of women empowerment. Awareness amongst the masses, especially rural and slum-dwellers, is needed to achieve the desired effect. But I don't know whether the Government is really doing so.
Quota these days is just a tool for generating vote banks. The vision that Ambedkar had has totally been spoilt by the politicians. I had read an interesting observation somewhere. If the quota system indeed helps in social upliftment of backward classes, 50 years (2 generations) should have been enough and so the quota system should be abolished. And, if the people have still not made a progress, the quota system is flawed and it should be abolished. However, our leaders are not brave enough to make such a bold decision. Even if they are brave, they are aware that they'll lose major vote-banks. This may eventually lead to the opposition rising to power and the quota system being re-introduced by them. So why bother? Let the system stay.
It is no wonder that people prefer moving abroad to make life easier for them and their kids rather than stay here and fight against quota. Who knows, there may be just 15-20% seats remaining for the Open category, a few years down the line. And mind you, this 15-20% wont be "reserved" for Open category, but open for all.
The quota system is really spoiling our nation and its younger generations.
I had one interesting experience. It was first day of Medical Admissions counseling round. I was standing in a queue with all documents according to my rank. A guy next to me was 1 rank ahead of me and from OBC category. Naturally he had written 'OBC' in his form. As it was first day of admission, all candidates were having good marks and could get admission in the college they desire. The admission officer at the table was also from some category I guess. So he suggested that guy to change 'OBC' to 'General'. That guy asked him "why Sir, I have written it correct. I am from OBC only.." Admission officer replied,"he bagh, tula marks itke bhari ahet ki tula admission open madhun pan milel... maa kashala ek seat waya ghalvaychi?... tevdhach ankhi eka OBC mulacha fayda hoil... barobar ki nai? kay?" ... I was shocked..! Now, this guy must pay fees for 'Open' category, but no. They can enjoy fee waivers by giving caste cert.
ReplyDeleteYeah.
ReplyDeleteCategories should be based on economical status, not gender or caste. But, thats not happening in 200 years atleast. People in India, are quite touchy.
The BC strength in the country is too high. So its gonna be difficult to rollback this quota system. These people don't understand that this quota system is gonna do bad to them and their future generations. The political parties take the advantage of this huge population to gain votes. There are some BC people who understand this, but unfortunately they are too less in number. Quota system has become a way for these people to earn more money with minimal efforts
ReplyDelete