Reservations

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Who are these queuing up before free ration shops, faces contorted in simulated humility, eyes popping up in wonder and gratitude, the bent heads acknowledging the merciful highness of the dole givers? Where are those championing human dignity who always advocate human rights and the value of human life? Do they gnash their teeth in impotent rage at this sorry sight of man? No. They don’t, for, their advocacy of human dignity is often confined to the political authority’s recognition of human dignity. And that often means give the poor doles. Let the unfortunate specimens of humanity queue up, satchel in hand or beg for money or provisions to keep base life afoot. They write articles,  in argue panel discussions to give the poor and weaker sections of the society free food, free house and make them feel eternally grateful to the welfare state- the mai baap government. The clever among the activists who have some education and gift of the gab, they organise rallies and gherao government officers or ministers and demand reservation on caste basis. The argument is: these unfortunate victims of Manu have been exploited by a wrong perception of man –made divisions of upper and lower castes. The rich and powerful put them under the mat which has become a self-deluding historical habit which they haven’t shaken off. What’s to be done then? Give them reservation in schools, jobs and even promotion and make it hereditary.

B.R .Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution could look into the future and see that the perpetuated reservation will be another historical blunder, for, human beings always prefer to live under the benign shadow of divine mercy or its worldly substitutes practised in a welfare state. He recommended a ten year period of reservation for the scheduled classes and tribes. But the law makers saw the vote potential in reservation and expanded it to include other castes and vote power groups capable of wielding pressure. The constitution is amended every ten years and the ten year periodicity is gleefully extended to rejuvenate suffering men and women in the coming decade. And this is done to right a historical wrong. History cannot be brought to the right moral path retrospectively, rather the present generations enjoying reservation will have greater demands as their positions improve and the current history will pave the way for future distortions as the socio-moral-economic gaps will widen following the law of nature.

This is already happening as the new champions of the poor exploit the situation politically. Guzars,Jats, Patels, Marathas now a days do not beg or request or appeal; they resort to the blackmail of violence. Now the minorities demand reservation. Some state governments grant them reservation flouting Supreme Court directives not to exceed 50% of the total number. After a few year the so called upper castes will demand reservation as a large percentage of meritorious youth fail to access the available opportunities.

It is an unfortunate irony of history that man who considers himself as the best creation of God  does not hesitate to label himself helpless, to stretch out his hands to receive doles of political mercy. Some states also prepare long lists of want only to make them eligible for central assistance while the historians record their proud culture and heritage. If man is a paragon of virtue how can he pose himself as destitute only for the state’s mercy? Is it not a shame on governments to politically exploit poverty in the name of welfare? If the rich and the powerful, in history, exploited the hapless poor for their own comforts and threw doles at them to record their own names in the annals of philanthropy how were they different from the present day representatives of people?

Man is a natural seeker of opportunities. In the past, those who utilized opportunities or snatched opportunities from the jaws of adversity have contributed to human dignity by their resourcefulness. The poor young persons of today need such opportunities. A welfare state’s primary purpose should be to uplift man by providing opportunities; not to enslave them by giving them reservations. The present government should create institutions of excellence for them and encourage them to compete. Ignite their native intelligence, teach them not to fall prey to history as interpreted by vested interest groups and pseudo intellectuals. Explore the talent centres and utilize those to carve out new patterns of reality. Make them feel useful to society. Bring them out of the traps of their own making and make them feel human with a natural sense of dignity.