Peerzada Arshad Hamid
Srinagar
Voices for and against the reservation are strong enough in this strife torn state of Jammu and Kashmir as well. The general category students in Medical and Engineering across the state are critical of the apex court's decision and anger is palpable within these professional colleges.
With general category candidates seeing reservation as politicization of education and death of meritocracy, the apex court's decision is viewed as being influenced by ruling government at centre.
"In the present age, we should work towards abolishing reservations rather than making it indispensable. Hundreds of the meritorious students get dropped because of this and incapable are being promoted. The precious money spent on students studying medical or engineering thus goes waste. Why don't wise think over it? How long are we going to be led by mean politicians and their petty priorities," said Imran, a medical intern in Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar.
However, the candidates who have got selected because of the reservations cite an altogether different story. They argue that reservations should get enhanced so that more and more people falling in other backward classes of society should get chance to avail better education and thereby better facilities in their lives.
"The people falling in OBC categories either come from weaker sections of the society or economically backward classes or far flung areas. Why shouldn't there be a reservation in order to bring them at par with their counterparts enjoying better status and facilities," argues Israr-ul-Haque, a category student doing MBBS in GMC Srinagar. Haque hails from the Karnah area.
Students competing for the open merit maintain that beneficiaries of the reservations in OBC or other categories often belong to well-off families and are blue-eyed candidates.
"Most of the students who get benefit from this category system are the ones whose families have migrated to cities and towns. They have access to good education and schooling and this category grants them an edge over us. In my batch out, of 35 candidates who have come on reservations hardly 5-7 students are deserving rest all of them are fictitious," Imran says.
Though students seeking admissions on quotas admit the allegations, they say for a sin on any individual why should an entire community suffer. The reserved category students demand an independent inquiry to verify the claims of category students.
"Exceptions are always there. It is true that some people do get undue benefit from the reservations but that does not mean you should altogether scrap the law. Easy way out is to set up a commission that should cross-check the details," argues Murtaza an Engineering student at National Institute of Technology, Srinagar.
Students in J&K state that government should reconsider the reservation and amend SRO- 17, a government order. This order entitles a category student to come in open merit incase his score falls within the cut off merit and thus leaves the seat vacant for another fellow in the reserved category.
"SRO 17 is total injustice and sheer violation of rules. See how it mars the careers of open merit candidates. A category student scoring high is brought into open merit and his seat left for another category student. Rule should have been such that he should top his respective category and open merit should be left for general category students," says an anti-quota activist in GMC Srinagar.
Even anti-quota activists allege that negligence in the medical and engineering fields are exclusively because of these reserved category students.
"Since they get admitted to medical courses easily, they don't work hard. The most cases of negligence in hospital are because of these students," said Tariq Ahmad another engineering student.
However pro-quota people term the allegation as mere exaggeration.
This year for PG exams 1700 candidates have appeared in the state for 280 seats. Out 280 100 are reserved for the categories.
"This is the mockery of system. They enjoy reservation at the time of entering the college, then until completion of the degree they have similar access to education like we. So, why reservation after that - in PG exams, in employment and then again similar facilities to their children," asks Tariq.
Defenders of the OBC quota use a variety of arguments to justify them. An engineering alumnus feels that the ‘lower classes have been deprived for a long time. "Society and Government owes them," he says.
However the issue is debatable and certainly something is to be done to give an equal opportunity to all to compete for admission in courses like Medical and Engineering, etc. But the solution for that is not to force quotas at the college level, but instead to improve educational facilities at the primary and secondary school levels.
This of course requires Indian politicians to work hard and look beyond vote-bank politics. They actually need to propose and implement something tangible and meaningful.
VIEW
Azad Ahmad Shah (category Student)
Azad Ahamd Shah completed his MBBS from Government medical College Srinagar. A reserved category student, Azad managed to get birth in the medical college only because of reservation.
Hailing from a rural backward area of far-flung Khansahib block in Budgam district, Azad is the only one in his family to have got benefited from reservation so far.
"There is a lot of difference between my village and the city. Our village has limited facility and so does the educational institutions there. So I don't think it fair if we are treated at par with the students in city, who have enough facilities," said Shah.
An ardent supporter of reservations, Shah views category options as a viable option to minimize the inequalities in the society.
"That is the way by virtue of which we can create a balance in the society," he says.
Reservations for Shah enable the weaker and down trodden sections of the society to compete with the well-off sections. Reservations, he believes provide a chance for underprivileged in the society to prove themselves.
"Reservations provide us the chance to prove ourselves. There are many examples where in students from reserved categories have excelled compared to others," Shah boasts.
Although, Shah admits that sometimes some fakes get benefit from the reservations but he denies abrogation of the reservations.
"Of course some people illegally get benefited from reservations but that is a miniscule of the population. Look fakes can't be checked by abrogating reservations. Make the system transparent so that deserving ones get the benefit," Shah explains.
COUNTERVIEW
Sayeed Wakeel (Open Merit student)
Sayeed Wakkeel is in the pre-finals of BDS at Government Medical College at Srinagar. Wakeel, a general category student remembers the day when he was closely dropped from the MBBS list in the open category.
He had scored 182 points, out of 225. The cut off merit that year was 184. He could have joined his dream course MBBS, for which he had worked hard. But for reservations he was simply dropped out.
A candidate with mere 110 marks in the list managed an entry in MBBS the same year because of belonging to category of OBC. Many others with lesser scores also got admission on the pretext of reservations.
"Had it not been the practice, I would have been doing MBBS. Isn't this injustice?" Wakeel asks.
Wakeel considers himself, a victim of the system and says such practice is going to ruin the society. "Owing to stiff competition, for open merit students it is hectic. We are deliberately allowing the inefficient ones to ruin our system. How come can you expect them to deliver the best after they finish up degrees," says Wakeel.
Wakeel belongs to middle 'class family and hails from Pampore town in the outskirts of Srinagar city. However, Wakeel was not that much unlucky and managed to get admitted in BDS.
"Think of those brilliant students who despite working hard could not make it to the list and because of reservations," sighs Wakeel.
