Reservations: Brand without a quality, truth without a reality

Unwanted reservation for undeserving communities and classes of the society in today’s world of competitions has becomes the order of the day. In today’s growing atmosphere of competitions every single contestant participates in a test with the aim to qualify it, but unfortunately, everybody can’t qualify it despite the fact that everyone aims and will be glad to qualify the test. In competition for few vacancies many have to return home and try again qualify the test next time. Out of those who return home, only a few of them are motivated to try again, have a positive mindset while trying to learn from the lapses of the past. While motivation is an indication of dedication and sufficient enough to indicate that every participant tries hard to perform well with an aim to qualify the test, the general impression among the people is that winners win the contests because of luck and some little efforts. Most of the winners’ don’t perform well later and that’s why mostly competition is neither fair nor a genuine way to check the talent or skills of a particular contestant. In our world, in a pen paper or online exams, someone can pass the examination by unauthorised tricks such as cheating, corruption, nepotism etc. And after the results of that particular exam, if a particular cheater wins, then he/she will be determined as a winner without any verification or something, whether that person has some good skills or not. That’s why; just an examination is never the best way to to check inner talents and exceptional skills. In India, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward lasses (OBCs) have become the privileged classes of the society. Notably SCC/ST act (1989), Parliament of India prohibits discrimination and calls for prevention atrocities and hate crimes against the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes. Other Backward Class (OBC) is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially disadvantaged. In the earlier times, those who deserved to be given special rights and reservations, were really deserving it as general or higher class people were creating hate crimes, untouchability, discriminations based on caste etc. In order to provide equal opportunities to them just like general categories, laws were introduced for reservations. Moreover, SC, ST & OBC were economically backward classes and as as such the Government of India introduced some special laws especially for them just to help them cope up with their problems and stand alike in race with the general category. Though special laws mainly are being followed mostly for reservation of seats for them in the process of selections and recruitments, but even now when the people belonging to SC/ST/OBC categories are placed better than even the people of general category in almost all the key public institutions, they still enjoy the dividends of special reservations in a more perfect way.
In fact, they have grown so much over the period of year that people of general category are far behind them in the institutions of law making, governance and other streams of public life. The no of general category people is very huge in proportion to those of the reserved categories because of limited opportunities. Reservations even for jobs and selections irrespective of their potential and capacity to perform have reduced the position and status of general category people in almost all the public institutions. As quotas are fixed for the SC,ST & OBC categories, most of the general category people despite possessing the talent and capacity to perform suffer because of the limited opportunities in recruitments and selections. The special quota was given to underprivileged sections of the society the time when they were underdeveloped but now, most of them are well developed and they are overtaking people of general categories in almost all the public institutions and major business operations across India. Better for the government to take away rights of reservations from the people of so called “ reserved categories, i.e, SC/ST/OBC etc” and let the people of other underdeveloped sections of the society avail these rights in recruitments and selections besides representation in law making bodies. There are many people in general category too who deserve reservation because of their present status and position in the public institutions. Term “lower class” is now a tag/brand used to give VIP rights to the people who don’t deserve it by virtue of their present status and position in key public institutions. Laws must be enacted to give the special reservations to those who deserve it because of their inaccessibility to education, health, housing and other such amenities of life. People who are actually illiterate and poor enough not to afford educational costs and health and housing facilities deserve reservations in recruitments, selections and law making bodies.
( The author is an Aeronautical Engineering student from Jammu City. Views are his own)
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