Reservation

Caste based reservations has always remained at the back of my mind since the time i graduated from school. Mandal commission decision,the debates and fiery and deadly demonstrations were still fresh at that time.However ,i was too rosy eyed to be bothered.

The uselessness of caste based reservations hit me a few years ago when I personally witnessed an OBC status colleague carrying a high end mobile and living a carefree and moneyed lifestyle when it was made to believe otherwise

The recent violent demand by Gujjar community to be included in OBC quota took me by surprise.
After all, the main reason cited by quota politicians and people who enjoyed quota reservations was upliftment and inclusion in mainstream society. It took me very little time to understand that I now belong to 'underprivileged' group !

Caste based reservation has created more offence especially the OBC quota where all and sundry have been included and have benefitted through many generations.
The moot question the sociologists can probably help with - Has the 50 yrs + of reservation helped in inclusion of lower castes into mainstream society ? Have the caste based prejudices disappeared or have they turned into more subvert and schizophrenic mindsets ? Have they made racists and uppercastes fiends more humane ?

Affirmative action which is touted as possible route is applicable virtually to any underprivilege section of society- womem,Muslim women,disabled,poor muslim/christian/parsi/hindu man and SC/ST/NT muslims,christians and hindus etc .
Why is that so difficult to understand !

Sachar committe report which came and went away,brought a few facts to forefront. The fact is Muslims are considered last when it comes to selection via the usual reservation route.It is simply because of the 'Us vs. Them' mentality which crosses even the caste based bias.That's the reason there are very few Muslims in Government jobs which are still sought after because of the perks they ensure.
As usual, political groups which consider Muslims to be 'outsiders' will do nothing for Indian Muslims. Indian Muslims will always remain a bone of contention because of it being the largest minority in India.

What are we waiting for to scrap the untenable caste based reservations? More violent and demanding inclusion in quota system so that the next generation of that caste get easy jobs,education opportunities etc ? If the fight is about better jobs,education and more money then are we waiting for the 'open category' to reduce to poverty,not have access to education because there is 'competition'and reserved seats which are later 'sold', to improve and adopt a different route towards a truly egalitarian society !