PaRCha - JNU - DSU - 2007 ID-58074
.
26.10.07 .
26.10.07 .
Of merit and other myths.
Contaxtuallztnu casta, reservation and aducadDI.
The anti-reservation protests have a unique feature -mobilization of students from top colleges, including the 'cream' of thecrop, technology, medical and management Institutes, students who are otherwise apathetic to buming social issues. Itwas.
also o~~ of those rare.times when students and administrations, bureaucrats and technocrats, were in agreement In theiropposrtlon to reservatron. Presumably, people protesting against reservation perceive that they have something to lose fromit i.e. they do not come under the purview of reservation. This tells us three very simple things: (1.} Students enrolled inhigher education are predominantly from the upper castes; the dalits, backward castes and tribals, who form the vast.
majority of India's population, are a miniscule minority In higher education (2JThe casteist, brahminical bias runs very deepIn our education system and (3)The 'general' category has, In reality, become the preserve of the privileged. It Is Ironic that.
the nature of the anti-reservation protest Is in Itself an argument for reservation..
The conditjon of Dalits and bg,lsward castes: In rural areas, the caste system is an integral part of theproduction ;SYstem, with h.uge disparities In ownership of land or capital resources, education, health along caste lines.Access to v1tal resources like land or water Is determined by caste.AIJ available statistics paint a very dismal picture.Two-third of dallt households Is landless. Unemployment and underemployment Is the highest among dalits andbackward castes, with a very high number being employed as landless agricultural labourer in villages. Even in urban.
areas the percentage of regular Income earner is abysmally low, with most dallt or oppressed caste people being.
employed as contract labour (like we see In JNU campus). 60o/o dallt wage labourer household In rural areas and 700/o.
In urban areas fall below poverty line. OBC repres~ntatlon In university faculty "cross the country Is 1o;0 , sso;0 of seatsfor SC & ST In class I /1 II government jobs have not been fulfilled. The Arjun Sengupta report shows that 880/oofall SCs and STs, 85°/o ofall Muslims and 80°/o ofall OBCs survive on less than Rs. 20 per day. on theother hand, the upper castes, who demographically are just about 15°/o of the population, comprise the bulk of theIndian ruling classes -industrialists, senior executives, bureaucrats and landlords; controlling 960/o of Industry andtrade, and 71°/o of agricultural land and natural resources. .
Reservation counters the dlscrimjnatlgn: The disparity and segregation of dalits and oppressed castes into.
traditional occupations is the result of both past exclusions and the continuing discrimination and exclusion In the.
.
market and non-market transactions. The reservation policy is not meant to economically uplift the dalits, tribals or.
backward castes. That it may do so marginally is only incidental. The primary purpose of reservation Is to counter the.
societal disability to treat everyone equally. It is measure against the castelst, brahmlnlcal bias In the recruiting.
authority (in education or employment) who routinely discriminate against the oppressed castes..
The proponents ofthe 'creamy layer' argument against reservation deny this deep rooted practice.
.
of discrimination and confuse it with the question of poverty. By its very nature of reservation policy, only affects the.
comparatively better off section of the oppressed castes, who could afford some education. Besides, education or.
comparative economic prosperity notwithstanding, the oppressed castes are discriminated against simply because they.
belong to a certain caste. The victims of the Khairlanji dalit lynching were Indeed among the better educated and.
.
landed people in their village. Even those who get into an institution through res§rvation are discriminated against and.
harassed. (yes, there are such cases even in \progressive' JNU). Devoid of punitive powers, reservation has no impacton the organisational dynamics that determine the real distribution of power..
The merit mvth: In a society which is inherently brahminical, unequal and discriminatory, 'meri~is merely the powerto buyan education. To afford better schools, books, coaching, English education; and, most importantly, to afford notto worry about where the next meal will come from-a luxury denied to millions. Naturally, p_Q()ple who have a stake inthis system of prtvllege and Inequality come out against reservation. It Is significant that merit based arauments acenever beard when ~ats are reserved for the real creamv laveu the rich and the prlyl!eged, through capltatlgn feecuptas and NRI auotas. The discontent and pressure from below has forced the government to very reluctantly.
legislate reservation, It Is evident that there Is no will to Implement lt. During the Mandai Commission days, bothCongress and BJP had openly opposed reservation, while the 'Official Left' had maintained a very dubious,opportunistic dithering between support and opposition..
Campy camlam: Well, the right wing organizations like NSUI, ASVP or YFE, with their steke In the existing sodalstructures of power, reinforces Even now, despite their pro-reservation rhetoric, In terms or ground·level mobilizations.
for lmplementetlon, the official Left: In JNU leaves much to be desired. Bight trom the beginning the JNUSU ldlrJhlp.
b,ad made the demand tor 27°/o oac teS@NAtlon conditional on the demand for 54% seat lncreosel Which etl'ec:tlvlly.
mean that till the Interests of the real 'creamy layer' ore safeguerded, there Is no question o.f allowing the backwardcastes through the portals of higher education. And given the state's reluctance to spend money on education, giventhat In the last so years seats couldn't be Increased to accommodate students from educationally backward sectJons,such huge increase of seats at one go is really a remote possibility, which makes the chances of 27°/o OBC reservation .
.
PaRCha - JNU - DSU - 2007 ID-58074
.
26.10.07 .
26.10.07 .
Of merit and other myths.
Contaxtuallztnu casta, reservation and aducadDI.
The anti-reservation protests have a unique feature -mobilization of students from top colleges, including the 'cream' of thecrop, technology, medical and management Institutes, students who are otherwise apathetic to buming social issues. Itwas.
also o~~ of those rare.times when students and administrations, bureaucrats and technocrats, were in agreement In theiropposrtlon to reservatron. Presumably, people protesting against reservation perceive that they have something to lose fromit i.e. they do not come under the purview of reservation. This tells us three very simple things: (1.} Students enrolled inhigher education are predominantly from the upper castes; the dalits, backward castes and tribals, who form the vast.
majority of India's population, are a miniscule minority In higher education (2JThe casteist, brahminical bias runs very deepIn our education system and (3)The 'general' category has, In reality, become the preserve of the privileged. It Is Ironic that.
the nature of the anti-reservation protest Is in Itself an argument for reservation..
The conditjon of Dalits and bg,lsward castes: In rural areas, the caste system is an integral part of theproduction ;SYstem, with h.uge disparities In ownership of land or capital resources, education, health along caste lines.Access to v1tal resources like land or water Is determined by caste.AIJ available statistics paint a very dismal picture.Two-third of dallt households Is landless. Unemployment and underemployment Is the highest among dalits andbackward castes, with a very high number being employed as landless agricultural labourer in villages. Even in urban.
areas the percentage of regular Income earner is abysmally low, with most dallt or oppressed caste people being.
employed as contract labour (like we see In JNU campus). 60o/o dallt wage labourer household In rural areas and 700/o.
In urban areas fall below poverty line. OBC repres~ntatlon In university faculty "cross the country Is 1o;0 , sso;0 of seatsfor SC & ST In class I /1 II government jobs have not been fulfilled. The Arjun Sengupta report shows that 880/oofall SCs and STs, 85°/o ofall Muslims and 80°/o ofall OBCs survive on less than Rs. 20 per day. on theother hand, the upper castes, who demographically are just about 15°/o of the population, comprise the bulk of theIndian ruling classes -industrialists, senior executives, bureaucrats and landlords; controlling 960/o of Industry andtrade, and 71°/o of agricultural land and natural resources. .
Reservation counters the dlscrimjnatlgn: The disparity and segregation of dalits and oppressed castes into.
traditional occupations is the result of both past exclusions and the continuing discrimination and exclusion In the.
.
market and non-market transactions. The reservation policy is not meant to economically uplift the dalits, tribals or.
backward castes. That it may do so marginally is only incidental. The primary purpose of reservation Is to counter the.
societal disability to treat everyone equally. It is measure against the castelst, brahmlnlcal bias In the recruiting.
authority (in education or employment) who routinely discriminate against the oppressed castes..
The proponents ofthe 'creamy layer' argument against reservation deny this deep rooted practice.
.
of discrimination and confuse it with the question of poverty. By its very nature of reservation policy, only affects the.
comparatively better off section of the oppressed castes, who could afford some education. Besides, education or.
comparative economic prosperity notwithstanding, the oppressed castes are discriminated against simply because they.
belong to a certain caste. The victims of the Khairlanji dalit lynching were Indeed among the better educated and.
.
landed people in their village. Even those who get into an institution through res§rvation are discriminated against and.
harassed. (yes, there are such cases even in \progressive' JNU). Devoid of punitive powers, reservation has no impacton the organisational dynamics that determine the real distribution of power..
The merit mvth: In a society which is inherently brahminical, unequal and discriminatory, 'meri~is merely the powerto buyan education. To afford better schools, books, coaching, English education; and, most importantly, to afford notto worry about where the next meal will come from-a luxury denied to millions. Naturally, p_Q()ple who have a stake inthis system of prtvllege and Inequality come out against reservation. It Is significant that merit based arauments acenever beard when ~ats are reserved for the real creamv laveu the rich and the prlyl!eged, through capltatlgn feecuptas and NRI auotas. The discontent and pressure from below has forced the government to very reluctantly.
legislate reservation, It Is evident that there Is no will to Implement lt. During the Mandai Commission days, bothCongress and BJP had openly opposed reservation, while the 'Official Left' had maintained a very dubious,opportunistic dithering between support and opposition..
Campy camlam: Well, the right wing organizations like NSUI, ASVP or YFE, with their steke In the existing sodalstructures of power, reinforces Even now, despite their pro-reservation rhetoric, In terms or ground·level mobilizations.
for lmplementetlon, the official Left: In JNU leaves much to be desired. Bight trom the beginning the JNUSU ldlrJhlp.
b,ad made the demand tor 27°/o oac teS@NAtlon conditional on the demand for 54% seat lncreosel Which etl'ec:tlvlly.
mean that till the Interests of the real 'creamy layer' ore safeguerded, there Is no question o.f allowing the backwardcastes through the portals of higher education. And given the state's reluctance to spend money on education, giventhat In the last so years seats couldn't be Increased to accommodate students from educationally backward sectJons,such huge increase of seats at one go is really a remote possibility, which makes the chances of 27°/o OBC reservation .
.