Is Mandal menace good for NE?  

Dormant talent of the North-Easterners can be exploited if Govt. provides quality basic education to the children in the region. Proposal for reservation may sound politically correct for the North-East, but quantity without quality will not pay dividends.

If the government focuses on providing quality basic education to the children in the North-East and subsidizing higher education to the meritorious children, they are bound to succeed.

Jaideep Ghosh

AFTER almost six decades of independence, we, a so called secular state, still indulge in   politics of caste, creed and religion without any inhibitions.  Indian politicians, known to be amongst the most corrupt in the world,       live up to their reputation,  shamelessly indulging in vote bank politics, with scant regard for    either the future of the country or the well being of its people. Our politicians preach secularism, which sounds politically correct, and then, they divide the society on the lines of caste, creed and religion fragmenting the society to serve their parochial political ambitious.

India was cruising along on    the path of development and prosperity when, the horrors of reservation reared its head again, with Arjun Singh declaring almost 50% reservations in premier education institutes and throwing the entire education system into chaos.  The declaration was timed  to coincide with the elections, so that all OBC votes could be gathered by the ruling party.  And protests from political parties were negligible, as no party wanted to risk loosing the sizable OBC vote bank, endangering their future in the political arena.

The proposal for reservation may sound politically correct for the North-East, but quantity without quality will not pay any dividends in the long run. Lets face facts, if elementary education is weak, even if students are given opportunity in the premier institutes, chances of their success in future are dim .Rather, if the government focuses on providing quality basic education to the children in the North-East and subsidizing higher education to the meritorious children, they are bound to succeed and usher in a socio-economic change. Not only will they succeed on their own merit, even the private sector will welcome them to their folds for employment, reassured that they are employing quality work force. Many ambitions will be fulfilled, and dormant talent of the North-Easterners will be exploited to the hilt!

But, on second thoughts I feel, only the masses are to be blamed for electing senile old men to positions of power, burdening them with the task of decision making, when they should have been enjoying a peaceful retired life in some secluded hill station.  And the old man stuck back with a vengeance, reserving 50% seats in all premier institutions, throwing merit out of the window.  His thoughtful move ensures that merit are meaningless and mediocrity is the order of the day in every field in future.

I still recollect clearly those days of turmoil, almost two decades ago, when children were protesting everywhere against the horrors of Mandal commission.  Those gruesome scenes of self-immolation were flashed on every channel shocking people and stunning the intelligentsia, ultimately compelling the then Prime Minister V. P. Singh to shed a few crocodile tears on TV, and resign.  But today, thanks to Arjun Singh sacrifices of those young children seem to be in vain, for the ugly head of reservation has risen again, to haunt the children and anxious parents alike.

It’s a tribute to our spineless and selfish leaders, that reservations will systematically destroy all our premier institutes which are recognized as world class be it IITs, IIMs or AIIMS. Their mute silence will ensure that merit is of no consequence in any field, and mediocre students, if they are from certain castes, rule the roost.  Lack of  brain drain had earned India the enviable reputation of being intellectual superpower, which our wise old man is correcting for  future, ensuring another era of brain drain now. 

Its indeed amazing that political parties could never reach a consensus towards reservations of seats in parliament for women, but they all agreed for reservations in educational institutes without even a whimper of protest! Such damaging actions to garner votes, reaffirms the repulsive views of common man about politician, which is rather unfortunate for a democracy like India.

It is now time that the masses must decide future courses of actions. The easier way out is to secure OBC certificates for our children by paying bribes and then watch them earn qualifications, with minimum marks and shallow knowledge, knowing that we are fuelling corruption and eroding excellence.  Another option is to ensure that we set an age of retirement for the politicians, and also vote them out when they become senile, injurious and truly dangerous to the country and its people. This may be difficult, because our system does not   desire educated, politically aware adults to vote lest they use their brains to do so.  I am 40 yrs old now, and till date haven’t got a chance to vote yet, that is the clean and fair system we boast of, and I am sure most of the educated people will not get to vote either.

Let us join hands to stop the nation from disintegrating again and plunging in turmoil, due to caste, creed  & religious politics.  If not for us, at least for our children the next generation, let us work towards a free and fair system, which can be ensured by strengthening basic education. We must help the underprivileged by providing free study material for them, by subsidizing fees for OBCs in higher education but certainly, not reservation. No sane man wants his hands bloodied with the blood of children, and no parents want to be mute spectator to the trauma of their children.  Only a few senile old men enjoy the scenario that orgy of violence and pain, so lets work to deny them this ultimate pleasure. We seek neither bloodshed nor pain, nor cases of self-immolation, a little sanity and logic will be able to satisfy one and all.

I also take this opportunity to salute Asim Premji and other eminent industrialists who had the moral courage to stand up to the politicians and say no to reservations in the private sector. The industrialists have shown the way to restrict petty politics; lets reinforce their stand and ensure    the same in our education system.   It should be our endeavour to   attain excellence in every field, only then can we call ourselves truly world class.

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