RESERVATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

This is an opinion article and the author is open to any disagreements or counterarguments. Please understand that we have to first acknowledge that a problem exists, which should lead to dialogue, which can further lead to solutions, if at all.

Having been in a tier-I city for 23 years since birth and being in a financially stable family, I can give the perspective of a student who has had access to most resources an ordinary student might have needed. Off lately, I have been thinking, should I call this ‘access to resources’ a special thing to have, or is it just a thing that everybody has?

Clearly, all the students in the country do not have the same access to resources that I have had. For example, we have come across stories where athletes have taken part in national competitions without even a pair of running shoes. This is a hurdle that ‘some’ students have to cross to excel in any field. They have to outgrow on their own without much external help. So, I call having this ‘access to resources’ a privilege. To have an equal ground for everyone, the ones without this privilege have to be given a little extra support. This extra support was established in the Constitution of India, called as Reservation. It was clearly constructed to help ‘some’ students reach an equal ground as many others. This Reservation in quota was given for 10 years in the legislature and was given without any time scale in Educational Institutions and Government jobs.

Next, the most important problem was, who exactly were the students who deserve Reservation? During the 1930s and 40s, when the Constitution was written, the social system was majorly caste-based and not class-based. The Hindu society was majorly divided into five sections – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and Avarnas (or Dalits, usually neglected in the hierarchy). This was the social system where Shudras and Dalits were not given any social respect, and in fact, not even their shadows were touched. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, being a Dalit himself, realized that people belonging to these depressed castes needed to be given Reservation in all government-based institutions. A reservation quota was constructed based on the caste percentage of populations then. Till here, the story seems fair enough.

The new question is, should the same reservation system continue to be caste-based and not class-based even today? There are fair arguments both for and against this statement. OBC (Other Backward Caste) reservation in higher education is only valid if the family income is below a decent threshold called the Non-creamy layer. No such income limits exist for the SC (Scheduled Castes) or the ST (Scheduled Tribes) populations, and this is one thing that could be changed. The students in the general category under financial stress are given a reservation under EWS (Economically weaker section) category. The time to end caste-based Reservation is when the caste system ends, which is not yet. There is a section of society that is still depressed socially, at least in the semi-urban and rural areas.

According to multiple reports on July 2nd of 2021, assistant professor Vipin Veetil of IIT Madras resigned from his post. He alleged that multiple incidents of caste-based discrimination have occurred at the institution consistently. He felt that his resignation will bring this whole picture to the limelight. Also, NCSC had pulled up IIT Madras 2 days back for not hiring enough SC/ST/OBC candidates. This major incident showed that the caste system is intact even in the so-called 'prestigious' and 'liberal' institutes. IIT Gandhinagar has only 6 faculty members from SC/ST/OBC out of a total of 107, even though they make up to 40% of the Indian population.

Some people question Reservation at the Post-graduation or Doctoral level, which is supposed to be purely merit-based or skill-based. There are diverse answers to this question. I feel that the caste system is so deep-rooted in our society that reservations at higher levels are needed to encourage the youth to take up higher education and then take a position of influence. They can then uplift and encourage a larger section of people to further do so. Then Reservation can be gradually reduced when more people get access to resources and gain social status to match the average. This position is still not reached yet, if we can look at the percentages of faculties or researchers in various fields. The number of people from the depressed sections is very small and not growing at a positive rate. An opinion stating that people from depressed sections are not skilled enough is a wrong notion. Recently in June 2021, Deepika Kumari, an archer from the minority, became the best female archer in the world. There are many other examples that keep appearing in the news every year. Students from depressed sections clear competitive entrances with a score better than many from the General category. So, it is clear that some could excel given the right support and time.

The Reservation quota will reduce only when enough people of all sections get into influential positions, which isn’t happening anytime soon because many people running the system are apathetic and don’t allow diverse candidates to enter the system. Till this barrier breaks, the debate will keep happening everywhere, and Reservation is not going anywhere!

Author: Guru Sharan

PhD, Maths Department

IIT Gandhinagar

For Correspondence: gurusharan.n@iitgn.ac.in