No kudos will be enough for Elvidio Miranda and Diomedes Pereira for their letters titled “Credit for merit, must for Government jobs” and “Caste dilemma”(November 2) respectively.
Indeed there should be no provision of this laggard system named reservations in any sector in India – be it Government jobs or private, higher educational sector or sports. One and only meritocracy, based on academic record-marks-eligibility-efficiency-quality, should be allowed to flourish in all sectors of the society. Else all things like performance and accountability are bound to nosedive to the nadir.
Rightly has been mentioned in the letters that poverty is not the sole bastion of any specific caste groups. Irrespective of race-religion-caste, poverty remains a burning problem throughout the society. So if reservation policy still gets pursued, then it needs to be forwarded to the financially weaker section of the society irrespective of their caste credentials. However I suggest that the children of under-privileged background be facilitated with free education, coaching and study materials so that they can be brought at par with their privileged counterparts and can compete with them. But thereafter meritocracy will take over and doors of higher education to jobs need to be opened for the performers only.
Pereira deserves credit for identifying himself on basis of his nationality by transcending any demographic credential. Yes, like him, many other enlightened souls also think so. But majority of Indians certainly identify themselves primarily and solely on caste basis. And this is the very reason why caste credential forms the very basis of Indian election process. Right from Lok Sabha to panchayat polls, candidates are offered tickets after careful analysis of the demographic picture of the concerned constituency – which caste (often even sub-caste!) forms the dominant force! Even the poll promises and sops also bear shrewd casteist angle. Right from the esteemed post of President to a Panchayat pradhan – again caste of the candidate gets awarded maximum mileage! On the one hand, we will zealously beat the trumpet of “We are all Indians”, on the other we will promote and sponsor such barbaric display of caste/sub-caste flag! What a gem of hypocrisy! Can casteism ever get uprooted from the soil of India if such muscle flexing in the name of caste gets entertained by both the lawmakers and the electorate?
And when a large section of the population has been delivered the taste of gaining entry in the sector of higher education to jobs even after not performing to the mark thanks to the reservation policy, they would never give up this unfair advantage which they enjoy over their “upper caste” counterparts.
So in this sorry state of affairs, it is highly unlikely that Indians will voluntarily ask for abolition of reservation policy. And the lawmakers, enjoying the fruits of electoral dividend by playing on caste factors, would naturally continue to bring more and more groups under the ambit of reservation. Unless the politicians and the electorate learn to rise above petty barriers of caste, casteism and reservation would continue to gain more strength in this supposedly united country.
