India, the country of unity in diversity; the country of rich cultural heritage; the country of historical evolution and the land that gave world the concept of Universal Brotherhood (वासुदेव कुटुम्बकम्) is today reeling under the divide created ny the word “Reservation”. Why? Ask them who have suffered due to the ill treatment they met under this system of Reservation for education, job and other amenities for the backword classes to be referred as SC, ST & OBC.
So what is reservation and how did it become a system to finally become the evil governance mechanism for the vote bank of political parties? Cutting the long long story short, this system is the offshoot of Divide & Rule policy of Britishers that was further nurtured by the Father if the Nation (by calling them as Harijan) and encashed by the first prime minister of India. And the every government at center ensured that it keeps up the place in political circle and all of them encash it.
The provision of Caste based Reservation was made in books of Governance for a limited period of 20 years frpm the time of Independence (1947) and this provision was to be abolished by max 1970. The intent of provision was to bring the Backword Classes at par with the other classes and ensure economical balance for all the classes. But with the time, the then ruling party Congress realized the political mileage it got and post the split Congress (I) continued the legacy.
Though the benefit of Reservation can’t still be seen across the Backward Classes except for the rich and affluents who have managed to become more and more rich; the ill effect is pretty much visible on the general class for even after scoring 90% they have to step aside for someone with just the pass marks. WHY?? Hell for the sake of Reservation provisions. And then these students after clearing their exams get jobs too for the reserved position.
There are several such cases where government faced a lot of flake for this. 1989 was one such year when there were huge protest during VP Singh’s tenure as PM if India. But even after all those protests and raised voice discussions, the evil of reservations are still impacting the progress of the nation.
Though in my personal capacity, I do not propose to scrap the policy of reservation, but I oppose the policy of Caste Based system of Reservation. I would support the provisions if that would be for those who are economically weaker irrespective of which caste or religion they belong to.
If Acche Din are supposed to be coming, India as a nation demands abolishing caste based reservations and replace them with economy based Reservation System with an upper cap of 35% or so.
If this is not done and we continue with current schemes, the time would surely come where General Category would be relegated and woyld suffocate to find a place to study or find a job.
