|
Equal opportunity for its entire citizen is
justice in a democratic society under a
democratic system of Govt. But the words
'equality', 'Justice' may have different
connotations for different people living in
different socio-economic conditions. A
society is deemed just when it is truly
egalitarian - a society that offers equal
opportunities to all its citizens
irrespective of caste, color, creed and
religion. Such an ideal society is hard to
achieve. In a society where the people are
divided on the basis of caste, language or
color 'equal opportunity', 'equal justice'
are far fetched concepts.
India is famous for being a country formed
by an amalgamation of more than 600 princely
States when it got independence. India has
got the pride 'Unity in diversity'. The
other India, a one country where quota
system in education and employment still
exist. The policy of reservation has become
so sacrosanct that no Government, no
political party has courage to protest.
Rather this system which works only against
the qualified and meritorious young
aspirants in reality has become a policy for
successive Governments and it becomes
manifestos at the time of elections in the
name of social justice.
Way back in 1948, at the time of the
Constituent Assembly discussion and debates,
it was argued that for the principle of
equal opportunity to be made operative
'there ought to be no reservation of any
sort for any class or community at all'.
Those policy framers at that time and at the
same time felt the gross inequalities in
Indian society and noted 'although
theoretically it is good to have the
principle that there should be equality of
opportunity, there must at the same time be
provision made for the entry of certain
communities which have so far been outside
the administration.
So from these views though Article 14 and 15
guarantee equal opportunity for all, this
very Constitution has created reservation
for ST/SC and it was extended and extended
from time to time. From 1989 with the
implementation of Mandal Commission, people
who did not fit into either ST or SC were
grouped to another category of reservation.
That is why OBC and reservation for the
backwards among the forwards came into
being.
Well, when a big gap exist between upper
class and lower class section of people in
the early period of independence, certain
forms of affirmative action must have been
inevitable. It was made solely for the
underprivileged, under-class of people to
join the mainstream at par with the
privileged classes. Originally it was a time
bound policy which has been made an eternal
policy and has become a huge political
enterprise.
In a historic
judgment, the Allahabad HC has on June 23,
1992 held reservation of job on caste basis
in science and technology as ultra vires of
the Constitution. The judgment holds that
caste-based reservation in the scientific
field whether for admission in Educational
Institutions or appointments in Science
Departments of school and colleges including
medical and engineering colleges are
violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
But inspite of this observation of the
Supreme Court, in India bargaining for quota
still continues in one form or the other. In
every other day, one caste, one community or
another is struggling to be labeled as OBC
or minorities and this reservation system,
an affirmative action helps in creating a
new under class and a new underprivileged
class of people and the list of such class
is lengthening and lengthening.
When the students step out of their
university campus with degrees and
certificates under their belts, they are
sure to have lost in the crowd of unemployed
youths. Finding a job will be tough. This
reservation will only make it tougher and
again with an added reservation of
OBC/Backward minorities the students will
find it even more difficult. What however
being overlooked here is the scale in which
inequalities amongst the aspirants for a job
will widen. At one end there will be chances
for those who haven't got any merit, at the
other end there will be merits who have not
got any chances. Such inequalities are
unhealthy for any society especially for a
democratic society where all its citizens
are equal shareholders.
In the light of the above observations, the
recent agitation of the AMMSO has raised
many questions regarding allocation of
certain quota in Educational Institutions
and employments. Muslims are not a minority
community in India. They are not grouped
either in ST or SC. For privileges under OBC
it is another matter. There is already 31 PC
reservation for ST, 2 PC for SC. As per
guidelines of the Supreme Court,
reservations should not cross 50pc limit. At
the same time it also does not mean that
maximum limit of reservation quota should be
kept intact for reserved categories.
There are also guidelines that if suitable
candidates are not found then it should be
treated as unreserved. So using all the
remaining 17 PC reservation limit must be an
unhealthy exercise. If some reservations are
made for the Manipuri Muslims (Meitei
Pangals) on the basis of being a minority
community, it will create problems in
future. The population of Meitei Pangal is
about 1.4 lakhs while the population of
Manipur is 24 lakhs. What will be the ratio
of reservation? Will it be included in the
reserved category of OBC or not.
If reservations are made considering the
Meitei Pangals as minority community in
Manipur, there are also Nepali communities
residing in the nook and corner of Manipur.
They are also bonafide citizens of India. If
similar demands are made in future, what
will be the policy then? The authority has
to ponder on these issues seriously. Our CM
needs to be more pro-active in the wider
context of the future of the youths of
Manipur rather than a few thousand Muslim
votes in his constituency. Mandatory
reservation will harm the efficiency and
competitiveness in this age of
globalization. This debate has miles to go
before it can see a resolution. We have only
one wish: Recruitments should be on the
basis of merit for high skilled jobs.
Responsibility needs qualified people. |
