Goodwill, greed and the righting of history

In the ongoing fracas on reservations, the adamant agitating students have failed to see that they have gained a lot, and lost nothing. The fact that the Government was sympathetic to their cause should not be construed as the weakness of the establishment. The role played by the corporate sector, event managers and PR agencies in keeping alive the agitation is now an open secret, which needs to be further probed. These agencies should be liable to the laws that punish those abetting disruption of essential services.

It was not compulsory for the government—nor was it envisaged in the constitutional provisions—to compensate the loss of seats in the open category. It was merely a goodwill gesture. Otherwise, the issue could have been closed even without providing extra seats. But the greed of the students, who are now being used as puppets in the reservation drama, seems to be unending. The corporate sector is looking to further the agitation only to pre-empt the government from bringing in any legislation for reservation in the private sector.

Now the medical students, who were blaming politics and politicians, are engaging in real politics to undermine all the benefits that are likely to accrue to the reserved categories. At the end of the day, the agitation smacks of an upper caste stageshow; for name’s sake, it is called a medical students’ agitation.

As of now, the government has given a sufficiently long rope to the students; they do not deserve any more. The undue importance they have received has given them the audacity to demand establishment of a commission to review the reservation issue. The underlying—and now publicly proclaimed (after the promise to raise seats)—stand of this new brand of casteists is clear: To abolish reservations altogether and grab all the seats for themselves. Such is the greed of the new generation in an unequal society like India.

INTERESTINGLY, the cacophony of the reservation drama seems to have cleverly sidelined the law to ensure reservations in private educational institutions. The law that will be enacted by the Centre should fully reflect all the provisions envisaged in the 93rd amendment. The issue of ensuring reservations in private educational institutions in Central government-controlled areas should be part of the new law.

Not many of the urban elite know that all the states, particularly the southern states, have already had reservations for backward classes in educational institutions since the early 20th century. These states now need to enact legislations for implementing Article 15 (5) by enacting enabling laws for reservations in private institutions.

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