Quota Fire

There is no need to celebrate non-implementation of the OBC quota this year. Infact the government will be the one rejoicing. For in politics there is one maxim – implement something once and it will only benefit you for some time. Keep the issue alive and you can rake it up for elections to come. And that is precisely the reason why the UPA govt. hasn’t given the SC a proper reasoning for the OBC quota - because they want to defer implementation and keep the issue alive for some more time. And irrespective of what the courts think the quota will be implemented, maybe next year, maybe after that.

While thinking about the issue several questions come to my mind which, according to me, must be answered before we implement quotas for OBCs

Are quotas needed? If yes, at what level?

No one doubts that the govt. should strive for upliftment of people who have been economically/ socially discriminated against for centuries or have in general been backward. But is it feasible through quotas in education? I don’t think that is quite effective the way it is being implemented. Though it will give them an opportunity to study in some of the best institutions they may still not be able to make the best of it because of their background. They will not have the caliber to compete against the others. It would be better if they had been given good education since the start. But we all know what a sorry state our public education system is in. And their education, even their other needs (mid-days meals, etc), should be subsidized or preferably free.

Something like boarding schools where poor children can spend their school years would be ideal. It would take some convincing to make the parents send their children there but it is worth a try.

At post-graduate level merit should be the only criterion for admission. The govt. can continue to help the underprivileged by paying their fees, even in full.

Who should the quota be for?

Even if we agree that quotas are the only measure available the question arises who should be eligible. Should social backwardness be the criteria? Or economics should rule? A logical answer would be economic backwardness. For, a community which is really socially backward would also be economically backward. Quotas in education, etc would take care of the economic backwardness part.

For social backwardness there are other measures to be taken, awareness to be created among the others that there should be no concept of ‘socially backward’ castes, legal actions to ensure social equality. But this would ruffle the feathers of the rich and powerful upper castes that will cite interference with centuries-old religious traditions and no politician has the will to implement this. We will continue to read about killings of dalits by upper castes for years to come. Hence we have the government insisting that quotas be implemented on the basis of social backwardness because that is the easy way out.

And politics dictates that they cannot leave out the ‘creamy socially backward’ classes from this. Because, the economically backward among the socially backward do not have the capacity to use the quota.

How do we go about convincing people?

Before embarking on any new venture we measure its feasibility. What benefits will it provide? We will evolve certain criteria to measure success/ failure. And monitor the performance. If it works we will try again in future. And it will be so easy to convince anyone to invest in this venture. You have past performance to show!!!!

That is how the govt. should go about the OBC quota issue. First it needs to come up with a definition of OBC. Then measure what is their proportion in the population. And then prove to us why it is going to work. They have the SC/ST example to show. That is, if it has worked. The govt. still does not have any statistics on that.

How do you ensure proper implementation?

Nothing hurts more than watching someone get what he/she does not deserve. The govt. does not have any plan in place to prevent people with forged certificates from availing quotas. This has happened with SC/ST quotas for years. Politicians make money out of this so obviously they won’t choke one of their sources of livelihood. And that is what rankles the opponents of quotas.

Also to avoid opposition the quota should be implemented stage by stage by increasing seats so that the others don’t get affected. You can always argue that it is the duty of the govt. to increase seats anyways and these also should go to all, not just to quota students. But it will hurt less. And the govt should not force quotas into the private sector. It is everyone’s responsibility to strive for upliftment of the under-privileged but it should be voluntary

But it is futile to expect any one in the current political setup to think along these lines. A simple quote comes to my mind ‘A politician is a person who will take the money of the rich and votes of the poor promising to protect them from each other’. And it is absolutely true in India.