Reservations: Part III

In the past I have written about reservation twice (I and II) and if you have been a regular reader here, you know that I have a pro-reservation stance at an ideological level. Though I do not agree with the way our governments have gone about implementing it.

So even for a person who thinks that reservation is good as an idea but the present form of implementation leaves a lot to be desired, HRD ministry’s directive to extend reservation to faculty positions in IITs leave me livid and angry.

I am bewildered at this step for which I am unable to see any bonafide intent. I think this systematic destruction of the brand that goes by the IIT name started when they started opening IITs all over. I think the HRD ministry needs to understand that mere buildings and lab equipments do not make an institute of excellence. Even if we were to believe that students at that state are pliable and can be moulded (which I personally believe to be true, the experience is capable of changing people in multiple ways), we need people who would be able to do the mouldling.

And this is where I have a problem with this directive. I think the end-product from IITs (atleast on the technical side) is a function of the faculty imparting the education. Student interests, career directions, research options and academic rigour are function of the faculty that the students interact with.

I do not have a problem with people of any caste, color, creed, nationality holding faculty positions in these institutes of excellence as long as they are appointed on the basis of their academic and research capabilities. Granting 49.5% (which is enormous) of the faculty positions to a certain section of the society on the basis of their birth is the discrimination of the worst order.

This order attacks the essence of the IIT brand – ‘Excellence.’ I think the output from the process is a function of the input and what the process does to the input. I know ‘input’ at these educational institutions is a function of merit and the stated social objectives of the political set-up. However, screwing up the process will ruin the years of good work that faculty, students and researchers have put in.

I think it is time that the HRD ministry should realize that they are facilitators and enablers at best. The ministry exists not for making political statements but for actual Human Resource Development. How I wish that Arjun Singh and his set of cronies start looking at the broken schooling system and start some work to fix it! If… If wishes were horses.

Follow-up: In Defense of reservations

After this post of mine, I have received a few reactionary mails/phone calls from people I know. Some were of the opinion that this is the nailing evidence they were looking for. Now, they can proclaim my insanity to the rest of the world. And a few (a couple to be exact) comments on the blog as well.

So here comes the rejoinder to the previous one.

There is a difference between ability and accomplishment that we are very familiar with. Ability is a necessary condition and not a sufficient one for accomplishment. Accomplishment demands abilities be nurtured and the right opportunities come by. If you read my essay again, you would realize that my call is not to "gift" accomplishments. All is ask for is equal opportunities and an assistance with educational development. I do not think I am asking for too much. After all, education is now a right of Indian citizens.

One can ignore the reality and say that backward castes are equal. Equal on IQ? Yes! But on everything else, they lag by generations. There is a strong case for disturbing this order that has crystallized over centuries. When a state espouses Equality for all its citizens, it signs up for reducing inequity where it exists. It is not there to maintain status quo. I believe reservations at least attempt to undo this state of inequity which some want to exist unto perpetuity. As I have said before, I am against the (ab)use of reservation by creamy layer or the repeat usage of reservations.

In the interim, the GOM (group of ministers) have decided that they would propose amendment in the constitution to allow creamy layer to benefit from reservations any number of times. Ram Vilas Paswan says that both of these is integral to bringing social justice to the masses! It is this block-headed logic of most politicians that disallows even a logical person to see merit in reservations. But there are sane voices as well. Sachhar committee has recently released a report that Muslims are worse off than the backward castes in many places. Saifuddin Soz (Minister for Water resources) went on news with the statement that his children should not benefit from reservation if it is extended to backward Muslims. We need more sane voices on both sides of the table.

In a Democracy, it is important to ensure that inequity remains at its state of equilibrium. The Maoist and Naxal eruptions across the country are an indication of the undoing of this equilibrium in the country. High social inequity is a precursor to most separatist movements. Inclusive policies like reservations are required to combat this. Let us not act like the kid whose favorite toy is being given to someone else! The final policy on this should be inclusive. It should sound fair in the word and execution. Tough task? Yes it is!