The Views, Reviews and Rear Views on Reservation

REAR VIEWS
In a Malayalam movie ‘Mayoogham’ directed by well versed director Hariharan, there is a scene in which the hero who belongs to Brahmin community shouts at the interviewers during an interview. Issue starts when one of the interviewers anxiously asks the reason why he has put the column for showing community empty. The hero says he is backward. By recognizing his communal identity he is asked to quit. Then he argues that you should select the candidate only by counting his merit. Later he is imprisoned for six months for the serious misbehavior and for assaulting the officials in the interview board. When he returns he becomes an anti-social and criminal.
Assam reported its most shameful incident in recent times on November 24 when a teenaged adivasi girl, stripped naked by some youths during mob violence, ran for dear life on street in Guahati with her attackers chasing her in full public view. The girl had come to the city for the first time; participate in the All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) rally taken out by the Adivasi student body to press for the inclusion of Santhal Adivasis and the Tea Tribes in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
Right to Equality in the Part III (Fundamental Rights) of the Indian Constitution prohibits discrimination on the ground of religion, caste, sex, etc. It provides for equality of opportunity in public employment. However the situation of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other socially and educationally backward communities were so bad that they needed additional attention in 40s and 50s. That was why the Indian Constitution involved ‘reservation’ and ‘protective discrimination’. Later, the recommendations of the Mandal Commission were approved by the V P Singh Government during 1989. The result was overall reservation of 50% to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and socially and educationally Backward.
The 104th Amendment of the Indian Constitution in 2007 is for bringing in quota system for non governmental educational institutions. The impact of this is an online forum to resist this move and submit a petition against this Amendment in the Honorable Supreme Court.

VIEWS
The above posted documentation is an evidence of the existing confrontations regarding Reservation. One must agree that the situations of the downtrodden in the pre independent India forced the constitution framers to adopt special measures to secure them. The previous census reports show that 41% of the population belongs to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. There needs a review of the past 60 years of reservation to the SCs, STs, and OBCs. At the same time there must be attempts to reveal the present conditions of the said Forward/General category. Presently in most of the non-governmental, government aided and self financing institutions are populated with the said general categories. They do not have any other option than to pay big amounts as bribe for getting a respectable job. The irony is that there are several ‘not joining posts’ in the government sector exclusively reserved for the Backward. The politicians are always looking for the huge vote bank consisting of the backward communities. Though the reservation and protective discrimination aimed at achieving absolute equality (probably improbable) the outcome is absolute inequality.

REVIEWS
The alternatives and suggestions for this confrontation are listed below:

• Reservation should be reviewed and only after systematic assessment of the target groups, it can be implemented.
• Refurnish the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Class list by conducting surveys on their present social and educational conditions.
• The communities which are getting ineligible consideration in the national level are to be eliminated from the list.
• The quota of such displaced communities should be given to general.
• Since the backwardness is to be measured on the basis of educational and social status the general category should also get reckoned for this in the present century.
• At least for the most strategic and selected posts, reservation should be lifted.
• Reservation most of the time makes even the qualified backwards inferior. Hence it can be made optional for the candidates when they apply for the post.
SUGGESTIONS ARE INVITED.......