Radical and righteous solution needed for India’s reservation issues

[Guest guest]

>Bal Ram Singh <bsingh (AT) umassd (DOT) edu>

>bsingh (AT) umassd (DOT) edu

>Radical and righteous solution needed for India’s reservation

>issues

>Sun, 14 May 2006 15:24:59 -0400

>

>Dear Friends,

>

>As you can discern from my view below I feel social, economic, political,

>and philosophical issues go hand in hand, and a solution based on only

>consideration (social, political, etc.) is not sustainable, and thus goes

>against the eternal dharma. Keeping that in mind I wrote the following

>piece which is based on my true experience.

>

>Bal Ram

>

>___

>http://www.indianewengland.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&AudID=E6380C65513B4455ABE7524A6645DC42&tier=4&id=93D390BFE68D4FAFA2A02A90A82CE5F7

>

>INDIA New England

>Issue May 1 to 15, 2006, Posted On: 5/11/2006

>

>Radical solution needed for India’s reservation issues

>

>

>By Bal Ram Singh

>

>

>About three years ago during one of my visits to India, the driver of my

>car traveling on Azamagarh-Sultanpur road in Uttar Pradesh was a distant

>family member some 20 generations ago. As he chatted furiously inquiring

>about life in the United States, Jamuna Singh, sighed heavily while saying

>there was no hope for a job for people like him in India belonging to the

>so called upper caste.

>

>In his exasperation, he also had Melaram inkling (for those of you who

>have watched Swades movie) of a possibility of any assurance from me to

>provide him some help in getting to United States where he can perhaps

>drive a taxi or something.

>

>The conversation went something like this:

>

>Chacha (Hindi word for uncle), there is no possibility of job for Thakurs

>in this country. All the jobs are being reserved for Scheduled Castes/

>Scheduled Tribes, backward castes and Other Backward Castes.

>

> “There should be 100% job reservations, in my opinion,” I stated,

>turning towards him in the front seat, next to that of the driver.

>

>“What about us then?” he retorted anxiously. He was in a total disbelief

>to hear my statement on an issue he expected me to sympathize with him.

>

>“You see, the job should be approached with the mindset of service.

>Actually, in India the English word used for job is service. And,

>according to Bhagvad Gita, the revered book of Hindus, service is the only

>trait of Shudras. Thus reserving 100% jobs for Shudra class will be

>perfectly in accordance with the ancient and the living traditions of

>India.”

>

>Jamuna was by then completely puzzled, perhaps lost, and definitely

>crestfallen. He collected himself to lament, “That will only leave more of

>the Brahmins and Thakurs (kshatriyas) unemployed.”

>

>“That does not have to be like that at all in providing 100% reservation

>of jobs for Shudras.” I tried to assure him.

>

>By then Jamuna was completely confused, but was gaining some ray of hope

>with my assurance. “How would I get job if 100% jobs are reserved for

>Shudras?” He asked.

>

>“Through conversion,” I said. “People should be given a choice to change

>their class to Shudra class. This way, people with need and desire for

>jobs will be able to belong to a group which will be treated with equality

>and fairness, and those with best inclination and qualities will be able

>to compete for all the jobs available.”

>

>I am not sure if I was able to satisfy Jamuna, and last time I visited my

>village in February 2006, I found Jamuna was quite entrenched in his

>family clan of Thakurs, as he was looking for a suitable match for his

>niece to marry off in a Thakur family.

>

>However, with the current controversy of introducing additional quota of

>27% for OBC in educational institutions, including coveted Indian

>Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management and the

>proposal to amend the constitution to require job reservations for

>Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes in the

>private sector, my proposal seems to be more and more attractive.

>

>There is massive opposition to this move even though it passed in the

>Parliament with a vote of 379 to 2. Opposition to the quota system in

>educational institutions by industrial stalwarts like Ratan Tata of Tata

>Group, Narayana Murthy of Infosys, and Azim Premji of Wipro, is not only

>to support meritocracy in education, an essential element of competitive

>global economics, but also to ward off the current government’s

>louder-by-the-day insinuations to bring in legislation to introduce quota

>for SC/ST and OBC in private sector jobs.

>

>While government moves are almost entirely motivated by vote bank

>politics, and given a tenuous United Progressive Alliance coalition, and

>communist demand of their pound of flesh at every turn, the perception of

>social injustice to 70% of Indian population provides a moral

>justification for such moves. And a 49.5% quota for 70% population does

>not sound unreasonable, either.

>

>The question remains, however, whether a quota system created with

>ulterior motives of party politics is ever going to solve a long-term

>degradation in Indian society. History all over the world suggests that

>social engineering, be in the name of communism, eugenics, or religion,

>normally has opposite effects and divides societies.

>

>Honesty, equality, and fairness, on the other hand, bring everyone

>together to work for the welfare of all. Dilapidation of the Indian

>society over past millennium has led to the current state of unfair

>treatment of its own population, and there is a clear recipe available

>within the Indian tradition to right the wrong of hundreds of years.

>

>A reservation of 100% jobs for Shudras and a provision for the conversion

>of all those who seek jobs (including professors, doctors, and engineers)

>will remove social injustice, provide dignified economic opportunities to

>all, and promote meritocracy, all the while keeping corrupt politicians at

>bay. And, this is all within the subscription of Indian tradition, as

>outlined even in Manusmriti — shudro brahmagaataameti brahmanashchaiti

>shudrataam, meaning a shudra can become a brahman and vice versa, by

>action and qualities.

>

>Bal Ram Singh, director of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s

>Center for Indic Studies, may be reached at bsingh (AT) umassd (DOT) edu.

>

>

>

>

>Bal Ram Singh, Ph.D.

>Director, Center for Indic Studies

>University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

>285 Old Westport Road

>Dartmouth, MA 02747

>

>Phone: 508-999-8588

>Fax: 508-999-8451

>Email: bsingh (AT) umassd (DOT) edu

>

>Internet address: http://www.umassd.edu/indic

 

 

 

 

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