Its not about Reservations....

[Bhargs]

@guynextdoor,

very well written.
echoes the right sentiments.
the scenes of lathi charge against a peaceful protest is appalling, to say the least.
democracy in shatters and faith in the progress of the country on the rocks.
i do not know how this reservation cud be un-done.
more protests ? raise the volume of dissent ? a mass march across the country ? or ... ?
what is heartening though is the resolve of the studs who participated in the protest that could be vividly seen.
sure it's going to backfire on the government, but is it enough to make the dimwits re-think? ( oxymoron,i know)

to add insult, arjun singh decries and mocks at the knowledge commission that came up with some suggestions and questioned his proposal's validity.
it's not above the constituition,he says.
neither are u, mister.

its not just arjun singh n co. its not just the UPA government. it's the whole lot of politicians.
underline this :- not even a single political party is against the quota. not one.
is each and everyone one of them sitting on the throne harebrained and imbecilic ?
what about us, the people who voted them to power ?
does it not make us look ridiculous ?

[manu.dubey]

can any1 here with the actual fig n facts tat act how many % of obc sc n st in country...mention any link to any such article u know..

[gaurav200x]

Originally Posted by manu.dubey

can any1 here with the actual fig n facts tat act how many % of obc sc n st in country...mention any link to any such article u know..

As per Govt-approved-Reports nearly 77-85% population of India comprises of 'OBC[52%]+SC[17.5%]+ST[8%]'. 15-23% of Indians come under 'Open-Category'.

Correct me if i'm wrong.

[LIFE HEDGER]

democracy being by .. off... n .... for the people...if this thing comes into
force ................then r democracy becomes an ironical....cheap showpiece



secular integrated india in today's circumstance of conflict becomes a fallacy


hedger

[myfriends6]

Originally Posted by guy_next_door83

Make no mistake about it. Its been executed with such finesse,it can put the state controlled pogrom in gujarat to shame-wonder if there is some training ground where they learn these skills.But then,one gets better, with practice. And its not just wine that gets better with age. To call this vote bank politics would be being courteous. To call this an exercise in futility would be well, churlish. To call this a master stroke,err, nothing would be further away from the truth. Truth is, this is a failure of imagination. Yea, its a dismal failure of the senses because we take pride in having the largest written constitution on the face of this earth. It is a farce because we say that it took us many long years to sow the seeds of liberalization since we are a calibrate democracy, a vibrant democracy at that.It is a sham because we say that free speech and expression is the cornerstone of our egalitarian society. Yea,Like hell it is.

Let me then, enlighten you, Honorable Minsiter of HRD, Shri Arjun singh,that dissent is what distinguishes communist china from democratic India. A Hitler from a Nehru. A rigid fascist from a liberalist. A despot from a meritocrat. Hell, when George Bush-,the redoubtable foot in the mouth exponent- visited Great Britain, and tens of thousands of angry protestors assembled in front of the Buckingham Palace,to protest his presence in their country, all he could say was that he loves going to a country where there is freedom of speech; dissent. Affirmative action, dear sir, can be imported later. Learn the rulings of democracy first. Take away dissent, and we are as good as dead.

And I am not yet drawing myself into the debate of whether the government should or should not uphold the bill seeking the 49.5 reservation. For its not about the reservation at all. Reservations, beloved sir, are a manifestation of a form of anachronism, which was shameful even in a society which prevailed in your prime. And the anguish,the despair,the despondency, and the desolation are a function of this utterly shocking and reprehensible proposal . That fifty eight years into the life of a nation, we still haven’t imbibed the first imperative of democracy. I can almost hear the founding fathers quiver in their graveyards.

I was thrilled, delighted even that interns and medical students my age stood up for what they thought was right. For no cost is too high to stand up for what one thinks is right. Kids my age who have little to do with this imbroglio, many of them ,who will either join elite hospitals or head abroad, kids who have nothing to gain and everything to lose, risk their careers, their lives. For the uninitiated, a doctor cannot apply for a visa or practice, if she has a police statement against her.


They voted with their feet and you lathi charged them. They protest in a silent , non violent manner, and you hit them with 3rd gear water cannons? They stood up for equality and you tear gassed them? Its quite some time since holi and quite some time left for diwali, but never mind. In more ways than one, you have invoked our collective consciousness. We knew our generation was up for it. You helped us prove it. And lest, you misunderstand us, this is no flash in the pan. When you flushed them out, they formed a huddle. When you canonized them, they held on to each other for their lives. When you detained them,they didn’t even so much as to raise a whimper. When their futures were being decided they couldn’t think of influential names to bail them out. And sir, perhaps, what was the last nail in the coffin, was when you arrested 6 of them, an overwhelming 400 of them quoted mass arrest.

And perhaps, we don’t have much to lose. Let me correct myself then. How many of you in the government would want your grand children to be delivered by mediocre doctors? How many of you would want to come under the knives of surgeons who got through on reservation grounds. Terra Firma. How many of you would want your intestines and kidneys removed by well, at best, ordinary doctors?

We learn from history that we learn nothing from history. And if history repeats itself and yet what happens catches us off guard, how incapable are we of learning from our mistakes. Our best doctors- Naresh Trehan, Pratap Reddy- and the like are all great men not because they hail from a Tulu or an Iyer background, but inspite of it.

Even as I type this, a rather buoyant news reporter claims probe has been ordered and I quote NDTV here. “The Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra has ordered a probe after police use batons to disperse anti-reservation activists.”

A probe? Prime time televison disemminates live pictures of students being attacked, battered and bruised. And you order for a probe? You don’t trust your eyes! Ahh…fitting, aint it?. Or else I would have been forced to believe that human beings can commit such heinous crimes. Yet again, this is not an effort to stem the rot. This is a charade. A farce. A bloody travesty.

And sir, if you still can’t hear us, let me assure you that the screech is going to get shriller. Today we ve got to the streets; Tomorrow we are going to be in the south and the north blocks. Thanks to people like you, we have arisen from what is seemingly a long , long siesta. It’s thanks to you that we are potentially at the cusp of what is seemingly an awakening of a generation. Indeed, it’s thanks to you that has made us realize our strength of character.

This sums up the mood really- ( quoted by a friend who was a part of the protests)
"chadha do gaddi....kya farak padta hai....seat to le hi lee hai....ab jaan bhi le lo.

Now you know why Rang de Basanti was as big a phenomenon as it turned out to be. You don’t play with our self respect Mr.Singh. I understand you successfully implemented a 49.5% reservation in Madhya Pradesh a couple of decades back. Lightning strikes just once. And yeah, what goes around comes around. Except that, its your turn to be hit by the collective thunder.

In conclusion, all I d say is, even after having said what I have, I d still want to you to have a peaceful twilight of your life. So kindly keep off from the morning walks. Like I said, Rang de Basanti is cult. And to us, defence minister ho, ya human resource, kuch farak nahi padta.

Well written. Would like to add on to it.

I remember when I was in school and the mandal agitations were going on. Was too small to understand much of what this was about, or how this would affect me.

Now I know.

Most of us think the IIMs are a great place to study at, right. Then why is it that none of the IIMs figure in the Top 100 list of most publications? IIMA squeezed into the latest EIU ranking (http://mba.eiu.com/), but was ranked at 100 out of the 100 (the worst possible!) on:
Personal development and educational experience 100
Student quality 100
Student diversity 100

“The student diversity is staid at best, with more than 70 per cent engineers in every class.” The only reason the IIMs are considered good, is because of the excellent input-control that they have. "The IIMs follow an input-control model and have their reputation built entirely on exclusivity. If you have an entrance examination that is the world's toughest, you are assured of admitting students who would have above average number crunching skills. If you collect 1,500 such students at six institutes, the companies are going to hire from there because they have a guaranteed pool of skilled people. But if you remove the input-control from IIMs, do you have anything left to show?" - Dr Kuldeep Singh, former Chairman of PGP at IIM, Indore http://www.dailypioneer.com/displayi...oray/fory1.txt

Now given this situation, do you really want to worsen it all by increasing the quotas here, thereby further affecting the student quality? I don’t think you would agree.

Well, if all this wasn’t enough, things are destined to become worse. “The government has said it may bring a law to ensure reservation in private sector jobs if the industry failed to come out with "adequate" voluntary response on affirmative action for "all inclusive" growth.” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1528235.cms

What is being said here is, either you ensure that you take in people who are not qualified and up to the mark, or we will make you do it. Hobson’s choice; anyone for it?

Imagine what this means for an enterprising Indian, who after an MBA, plans to start off his own venture. He would have to employ people who are not good enough, thereby losing his competitive edge vis-à-vis firms operating in other countries. Therefore, what would he do? The very next opportunity he gets, he’ll shift to some other place outside the country. You force people in business, they vote with their feet. By walking out! After all, Mittal hasn’t become the worlds’ best by staying in India. And he still refuses to come back.

In India, “…entrepreneurs can expect to go through 11 steps to launch a business over 89 days on average, at a cost equal to 49.5% of gross national income per capita.” Contrast the figure of 89 days with two days for Australia, eight for Singapore and 24 for neighboring Pakistan”. http://indiauncut.blogspot.com/2005/...alization.html

In terms of economic freedom, we are ranked at 121, out of 157 countries worldwide, below Uganda, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Swaziland, Cape Verde. Ever heard of these countries? Even Pakistan and Sri Lanka are ranked way above us. http://www.heritage.org/research/fea.../countries.cfm What this essentially means is, it is much easier to start a business in these countries, than it is in India. Entrepreneurship, the driving force of any aspiring economy, is being choked off even before it starts.

If we have to go forward, we have to start somewhere. Abolishing quotas, in educational institutions (and of course, not forcing it on to corporates also), could be the first step. 1991 was just the beginning. We still have a long way to go. One hopes that with economists like Dr Manmohan Singh and a Harvard-educated lawyer like P. Chidambaram managing the country, these small issues are handled in the best interests of the country. But unfortunately, the future doesn’t look very bright!

Do write back! The issue’s still open for discussion.

"I will seize fate by the throat" - Ludwig van Beethoven

[Phooka]

Year 2020 : A boy about to embark for his first day at school

Boy : Boohoo ! Boohoo ! I dont wanna go !
Dad : Son you have to go to school . Everyone should learn .
Boy : No No ! None of my friends are there .
Dad : But Son....
Boy : Nikhil has gone to US . Sachin has gone to Germany . Sneha has a private tutor . Even Vinay is not going to School .
Dad : I thought Vinay was going to School ?
Boy : No Dad he is going to a Reservation School to learn the nuances of using Reservation to your benefit .
Dad : Oh !
Boy : I dont want to go Dad !
Son : Son you have to go . You have secured the first rank in the Entrance Exam .
Boy : But Sneha and Vinay also secured 2nd and 3rd rank .
Son : But son there was only 1 seat out of 100 which was availble for non-OBC, non-SC/ST, non-management , non-politician , non-rich , non-freedom fighter genral category open student . And you have got that seat . So you have to go !

[rajsher]

Originally Posted by gaurav200x

As per Govt-approved-Reports nearly 77-85% population of India comprises of 'OBC[52%]+SC[17.5%]+ST[8%]'. 15-23% of Indians come under 'Open-Category'.

Correct me if i'm wrong.

OBCs are 36% acc. to 2001 census! and ST/SC are 24.4%.
what are "government approved reports"?
http://www.southasianmedia.net/cnn.c...&Country=INDIA

[samcat]

Originally Posted by myfriends6

One hopes that with economists like Dr Manmohan Singh and a Harvard-educated lawyer like P. Chidambaram managing the country, these small issues are handled in the best interests of the country. But unfortunately, the future doesn’t look very bright!

Do write back! The issue’s still open for discussion.

"I will seize fate by the throat" - Ludwig van Beethoven

yeah !! where r they ?? the so-called intellectuals in the govt Dr Singh & Mr Chidambaram
..they have so far chose to remain silent ...why ?? because all this is never going to affect them or their children (they'll be off to US for sure) ?? because they hv no powers or no mind to think on their own (Mrs G is there to do that)?? or they too think of the petty political gains this is going to bring to them & their party ??
the only person who surprisingly has come out against it is Kapil Sibbal...why can't the PM or FM too do that ??
if need be they should quit their posts & show if they r truly intellectuals... THE TIME HAS COME...ITS NOW OR NEVER !!

[mona_vashisht]

well u may be correct..but then all of them r not poor!!!!
a lot of them are pretty well off..and those r the people who will further make use of it..
if u want to segregate india do so on the basis of above poverty line and below..
not sc st or obc..
this is just a political move..and no reason can be good enough to suport it..

[Abhishek Jha]

@guynext door - Amazing article!!! I wish our fight against reservation bears fruits.
abhishek.