Don’t get me wrong when I say that the bane of India’s competitive edge is the reservation policy.
Reservations in education sector implemented since 1990 have served only the creamy layer of SC/STs, BCs & MBCs. This policy strikes at the very root of quality and this doesn’t augur well for India’s competitiveness vis-a-vis developed Western nations.
Simply, merit is being traded off. Would you like to be treated as by a 40% pass doctor who got through his MBBS admission via quotas or prefer to be treated by a doctor who gained his seat by virtue of his merit?
If India needs to compete with the best of the breed nations, then this retrogade reservation policies should be abandoned.
US - The Powerhouse of Knowledge & Talent and India - Storehouse of cheap IT labor
Let me compare world’s largest democracies - India & the United States.
The United States owes its world super-power status due to equal opportunity policy pursued by its Govt. Like India, US too is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society. Just imagine if US is going to implement reservations in higher education. Naturally, they will lose out their competitive edge in scientific research & development. Let me explain how. Over there, it is the academics who propel scientific inventions & innovations. Universities in US are world-renowned for their R&D activities. Admission into higher education is through merit and not through quotas like in India. So they give opportunities for the best brains to work in their hi-tech projects and consequently, top quality results follow. This makes them a world power and they will be for a long time to come.
However, there is a shortage of talent (due to various reasons - young generation not interested in studies, less population, etc) in the US and they are fully aware that in order to sustain their knowledge dominance in the world they need to get people from elsewhere. Hence, they fill up the gap with overseas immigrants from India & other countries. Mind you, this is done purely on the basis of merit…not any quotas.
Compare this scenario with the Indian education system.
The heart of our education system is filling up seats on the basis of quotas. Again, you cannot expect world-class research & thinking from a 40% pass student. Thanks to modeling our education system based on the British, our eduation institutions do not encourage free & innovative thinking. In all probabilities (of course with exceptions), a 40% pass student who gained a seat in a prestigious educational institution will just be happy to gain a degree rather involve in research pursuits. This is because, given his intellectual abilities (or limitations?) his goal will be just to gain the degree & get going with life. And in this scenario, how do you expect path-breaking research to happen? Our education system does not allow top quality people to study - high calibre intellects aren’t given an opportunity thanks to quota system.
Notwithstanding our achievements in IT sector, we are still roadside mechanics when it comes to our knowledge or credentials in the IT field. Our inventions or innovations in IT field is very negligible when compared to US. Of course, we too have our moments of glory like Simputer, PARAM Super computer But they are just flashes in the pan. Almost India’s entire IT industry revolves around US-invented technologies & platforms. We may have brilliant programmers & techies but we all work for US-branded IT products & services. We are more akin to roadside mechanics who are experts in fixing vehicles but cannot design or build their own vehicles. If the US (for some reason or other) pulls the carpet, our IT industry will collapse like house of cards. We still haven’t innovated any new IT platform or technology for the world to follow.
This gives an idea about how vulnerable we are in the so-called Indian success story in the IT field. And this is a shame for us when India is known as the world’s largest scientific talent pool. Mind you, the culprit for such a sorry state of affairs is, you guessed it right, quota system based on castes.
Instead of encourage merit, we are welcoming & perpetuating mediocrity. To pursue hi-tech research we need meritorious candidates and not 40% pass candidates.
We have read about Indians (not necessarily upper castes) doing well in highly intellectual pursuits like research in advanced countries. Did they get quotas there? Didn’t they come up by sheer dint of merit & hardwork? Then what ails the same Indians in India? Why do they need quotas in higher education when they all study together till school without quotas?
Do you think that India, in such a scenario, will become a developed nation by 2020 (our grandiose Vision 2020) if we still continue to extend reservations?
Mark my words, low quality people will never be able to build a strong nation much as a physically weak person cannot win a running race. By low quality peope, I mean people who have achieved key positions thanks to quota in education, jobs, career growth (seniority too incuded). A just pass-doctor or engineer will be a potential hazard to nation building. They strike at the very roots of a nation’s health & well-being . Quality alone matters in this highly competitive world and not quota-enabled citizens.
Quotas in Education - Misplaced Priorities
I think we have misplaced priorities in extending reservations in higher education sector.
The world will appreciate if India provides equal opportunity for primary education to all classes of the society so as to raise them to a level where they are in level playing field when competing in the general category for higher education.
Already, we have reservation based on physical handicaps. Well & good. One can understand the motive behind such a policy - give equal opportunity to physically challenged persons.
Now, we have talk of reservations based on religion (remember 5% quota proposed for Muslims in AP) and Tamil Nadu may follow suit. Further, Govt of India is planning to provide reservations for Pakistan students to promote peace, friendship & harmony.
Next in line is quota in jobs in the private sector! My God! We are going bonkers.
Quota in Jobs
The call for quota in jobs is getting louder and louder day by day and I am afraid this may become a reality within the next few years notwithstanding strong protests by private sector.
Bear in mind, private enterprise motive for existence is profits, more profits and not due to any obligation of social responsibility, sense of charity or goodwill. Private sector thrives only on quality manpower.
After more than 58 years of independence and 14 yrs of liberalisation, today India Inc is strong enough to compete with top MNC brands in the world market thanks to liberalisation of the Indian economy & globalisation. Just when Corporate India is finding its feet strong enough to run a race with world-class MNCs in its quest for excellence, Indian Govt (more particularly the vote-bank hungry politicians) plans to hinder the competitiveness with job quotas! It’s ironical. I think the Govt would be interfering in free enterprise.
I work for an IT company where people are hired based on their merit alone. Recruitments by recommendation are alien to our HR practices. As is prevelant in the IT industry, at best, we can refer candidates through referral system but no way can we influence selection decisions. We compete with top companies based in US & UK. Frankly speaking, we cannot retain our competitive edge & drive if we hire people based on quotas. Our performance levels would slip if we cannot sack an employee for consistent poor performance. Tell me, if quotas in jobs are in place, can we take action against erring employee belong to, say, SC or ST? He/she would take refuge under quotas!
So the very thought of quotas in jobs goes against the basic tenets of private enterprise - profits through competition & excellence.
Further, pro-quota groups keep saying that at present, Govt jobs are scarce and no longer the Govt sector is being looked upon as an avenue for employment. Well, point well taken. But that is the head ache of Govt to provide jobs and its inability is no excuse for encroaching into private sector. Narayanamurthy & others are right in protesting against quotas in private sector. Govt has to win its war against unemployment of its citizens through its own resources rather piggyback on someone else’s back.
If this reservation politics continue, I am afraid that the day is not far-off when there would be reservation in the field of sports & beauty pegeants too. Imagine Indian national cricket team will be based on caste-based reservations rather than merit or Indian nomination for Miss World contest would be based on reservations!!! It’s unthinkable!
Endspeak
Quota system will further divide India and weaken the harmony and unity of all its citizens. People would be polarised based on caste just as in politics. Sixteen years of reservation has helped only the well-to-do sections of BCs, SCs & STs. Do you think that in the light of past experiences, quota system will help? It’s time to think deeply.
Quota system should be restricted to the first generation of SC/STs, BCs & other backward sections of the society. Tell me, whether an SC IAS officer’s kid requires quota crutch to come up in life? Don’t you think we are pampering the entire clan just because they belong to backward community? In what way is this justifiable in this modern age?
Quota system should be based on economic weakness/backwardness of people. There are lacs of families belonging to upper castes but are poor. Don’t you think quota system is very unjust to their interests? Have they got to suffer for the sins of their forefathers. And for how long?
Doesn’t this quota system goes against the very principles of our Constitution - All are equal before law and all Indians will be given equal opportunities? Don’t you think this is highly discriminatory in nature?
We cannot right the wrongs of yesterday. If it is done so, it smacks of vengeance & vindictiveness which just shows how parochial our mindsets & vision is.
If quota system is implemented, the Quit India movement of 21st century will just get stronger. The affluent & capable of the upper castes will simply emigrate away to advanced countries like US and lead a better life - equal opportunity, no discrimination based on castes,etc and will be able to provide their children an equal opportunity society that values merit unlike India. Already the situation is favorable with the US passing a Bill for hiking H1-B visas to 115000.
Quota system will enable upper castes to justify the craze for settling abroad in the ruse of equal opportunity. Then there is no point in complianing about brain drain!
And India will be run by doctors, engineers & IAS officers, etc who passed out with 40% marks. Then you can imagine the quality of India’s workforce and workmanship and work output.
Mind you, we are living in a highly competitive world. We are living in 21st century, Internet Age - Information at fingertips, and implementing further quotas will be a retrograde step and a throwback to the past.
The danger in implementing quotas is once extended to particular sections of people it is very very difficult to roll back. People used to such crutches for generations would find it difficult to walk on their own even if they can…they are capable of walking unaided.
What we need today is cool thinking and analysis of the issue. Our Parliament is being run by lung-power rather than tongue-power. Meritocracy is shortchanged for perpetuating mediocrity through mobocracy. Democracy’s biggest bane is mobocracy - get things done through mobs in the guise of participative style of governance. Majority opinion wins even though minority has merits in its arguments.
So, the task before our honourable Members of Parliament is this: without indulging in rabble-rousing, vote-bank appeasement the issue needs to be debated rising above short-term gains, parochial interests and keep in mind the winds of change sweeping across the world and the long-term vision so as to enable India to take its rightful place in the comity of nations. Will this happen? And if it does, when?
