Reservation Policy is Lowering Indian Standards
Indians from all walks of life are upset and are taking out their frustrations on the government and the politicians. This is very obvious to anyone who follows the Indian media on a regular basis or to those who are familiar with the Indian blogosphere. There is a feeling that the government is not responsive to the needs of the population and that the changes if any are slow.
I have never felt so much animosity and anger towards the government from the public before. Why? The economic boom of the past two decades has dramatically increased the size of our middle class. Globalization and the internet have made us very aware of how the rest of the world particularly the developed world operates. We are left to wonder why our government and our politicians do not operate the same way.
This situation is very similar to that of a kid who does not want to be seen with his/her parent thinking that it is not a “cool” thing to do. Middle and upper class Indians have outgrown their governments and desperately want to see something that will reflect their new found values and tastes. Unfortunately over 60% of Indians still live in poverty and the politicians and the governments are only trying to appeal to them and not to the rest of us who have “made it”.
But why is the Indian system of government inept, corrupt, slow and out of touch with the people they are supposed to serve? There are many reasons for it but the elephant in the room as they say in America is our reservation system (I am talking about caste, religion and gender based reservation in India). Many of you will be surprised to know that the reservation system was introduced in India by the British as early as 1902. The new born Republic then incorporated the system and formalized it in 1953.
Reservation is a noble idea. Discrimination based on caste, religion and gender is a reality in India and something had to be done to change it. My preference would have been to enact tough laws to make sure that such discriminatory practices are punished and also to focus on a strong educational system that emphasizes the importance of equality. I would have also set up an educational system like the United States where university seats are easily available once you graduate (the level of university you get into would be different based on your grades).
The Indian government instead chose to vigorously implement a caste, religion and gender based reservation system in schools, universities, government and even in our electoral system (many states are implementing a 50% quota for women in our panchayat system which is the core of our democracy). These decisions were clearly bad decisions and those who designed it and implemented it did not think of the long term negative effects.
The mess that is the Indian government (Federal and State) and the level of corruption and incompetence you find at all levels is a direct result of the reservation policy. Every single person who is a civil servant is occupying that seat based on his or her caste, religion or gender and not because of merit. In such a situation what do you expect from them in return?
As a resident of US I have had the opportunity to interact with American government servants at all levels. For the most part they are independent of the political system, very user friendly, responsive and do their best to solve whatever issues that we might have. They chose to be a government servant and enjoy their jobs. This is in stark contrast to the situation in India where if you go to a Taluk office you might feel or be treated like a criminal and nothing will get done unless you are willing to pay.
We have to start dismantling the reservation system. We should encourage individuals who are passionate, educated and knowledgeable to enter public life. We have to make sure that in critical areas like government and politics merit and only merit should be considered. We should make sure that appointments are made based upon demonstrated talent and ability and not on anything else. If we do not then we will still be complaining about corruption and other things 100 years from now.
Related posts:
- Foreign University in India is not the Solution
- India Underestimating the Importance of Merit
- The Corrupt Indians
- Eradicating Untouchability in India
- Time for India to Rethink its China Policy
Category: Culture & Religion
There are cases when a student having got 96% in the 12th,was unable to get admission in the college where as the one who got much less % got the seat under reserved quota.
Good point.
“The mess that is the Indian government (Federal and State) and the level of corruption and incompetence you find at all levels is a direct result of the reservation policy.”
Well, it is hard to agree. Why find some or the other scapegoat every time we talk about corruption? Reservation is a necessary, with all its disadvantages it is the only way to ensure equity… that is what I strongly feel.
Thank you for the comments and welcome to the site.
I am not scapegoating. It is one of the real reasons. After 104 years of reservation we still do not have equality. What makes you believe that this policy is working. How can you create “equality” by discriminating against people of the so-called forward caste? Please explain. Thank you.
Anger is there so is rage…My maternal uncle once told me that he has to serve people who could even write a letter properly….But the thing is everything is intermixed in India…you see the implementation of Uniform Civil Code is only held up because a particular religious community (or political parties relying on them) are oppose to it.
At one hand we see that people using reservation are abusing their power on the other hand the people are getting persecuted in the hinterland for belonging to particular community. We have failed our country
Welcome Tarun. It might take India a few hundred years to learn this but religious and caste based reservation will not work.
Yes I completely second you thought..I myself dropped the Engineering Stream even I scored 90% at 12 just because I HATE Reservation over Merit.and still today we are facing it… But as far as your last 2 paras …India is changing viciously..Somehow when we have an Educated Sensible Ministers in Place they somehow undo all the mistakes in the system which I seem is happening these days with the implementation of RTI, Online systems and the system is becoming transparent.. Believe me India by 2020 will Guide this world but for that the Extremist Groups in religion, caste or other linguals must need to be dealt with strict force..
Mukul
Welcome and thanks for the feedback.
I agree with you. If there is reservation then it should be based on other parameters like economic conditions etc. and not based on caste. I am not very confident that India will be all that different in 2020 than today because I am not sure whether the population can stomach the drastic changes that are required (I am not speaking of economic change).