Education and Reservation

I am not throwing brickbats on Arjun Singh or nor against the reservation. I am just trying to see things my way and sharing it! ( In case you do not want to read, you have the choice, so that makes me better that Arjun Singh, doesn't it?)

Education is not just a means of livelihood, it is about creating better citizenry, a more informed, active and aware population which participates in democracy constructively. (Am I asking for too much? I do not think so.)

The idea behind reservations must have been providing opportunity in a legal set up, one to which the society and the social structures has to abide by. ( Again, this is what I think, and I may be wrong.) The social conditions at the time the idea of reservation was coined need not be elaborated here, anybody who has read about the UP and the BIHAR society or has lived in them would know all about it.
Society, left on its own, would not have allowed the equality the architects of the constitution envisaged and hence, they made it the norm. And here comes the sorry tale of brilliant ideas executed badly!

The issue for me not whether the OBC's should be given reservation or not, but are we doing it the correct way?

Issue 1: Reservation in higher education to bridge the gap:
The gap is created from the day a kid goes to a primary school in remote village. He is told so many times that he belongs to this caste. Will him getting a seat in the IIM would help to erase the deep rooted caste structure? No!
But it would help his next generation. Yes, he would have better opportunity and thus, would be able ensure that the school his kids go to, they do not suffer the way he did.

Issue 2: Creamy layer should not be excluded:
Now, this is a bone of contention. The kids of the guy who went to the IIM, study in the best schools because their father can afford that. They get the opportunity to be equal. Now, should they get the benefit again? What about another kid in the remote village, who has suffered enough? Aren't his own caste people who have risen to the top blocking his progress, denying him of the opportunity to be equal? Yes.

Now the problem is defined, the solution?
Making it mandatory to quote the PAN CARD of the parents when requesting reservation. The income for a period can be checked, and hence, it can be decided whom should the seat go to. Neat, and efficient. There is a way of excluding the creamy layer, but is there a will?

Now, some more to add.
Lets make the reservation mandatory at the primary level, even in private school for say 30 years.
Now a kid from backward class gets admission to a good private school if his parents cannot afford a seat in the general quota. The kid gets his share of opportunities, he passes out from a good school, at par with the general category candidates, and then competes fairly in for the IITs and IIMs, with no reservation. That ensures that we get the best of doctors and engineers and managers. The society benefits as a whole. In 30 years, two generations can get the benefit and the society would move to a more equal platform. The rich will not block the way for the poor and we would have a fair and just system in place.
After 30 years, re-asses the situation and remove the reservation if the need be. We would be able to achieve what we have hoped for but have not achieved in last 55 years of reservation.

To do so, we need more primary schools, more teachers, more books and more scholarships, not the reservation in IIMs and IITs.

Mr Arjun Singh, are you reading?

( The views belong to the writer and are not intended to offend any caste or creed.)