IITB Students' Stance on Reservations

In the wake of the 104th amendment to the constitution of India, it is now possible for the Central and State governments to enforce up to 49.5% reservation in public and private colleges across the country. On April 28th, 2006 the Congress-led emocratic Front government in Maharashtra has quietly approved a draft ordinance that will bring in a staggering 50% reservation in private professional institutions. It is only a matter of time before similar quotas are ENFORCED in colleges across the country and the corporate sector.

Students from colleges across the country have decided to hold a nation-wide protest against the 104th amendment on May 2nd, 2006. As members of the student community of IIT Bombay, we express our solidarity with this cause and shall join the protest march at Azad Maidan, Mumbai. Over 2000 students have already signed a written petition against this increase in reservation. We would like to clarify however, that this stance is not subscribed to by IIT Bombay in an official capacity. The Government of India is pursuing a policy of blatant appeasement that needs to be checked. The aspirations of hundreds of thousands of students are being quashed in the interest of votes. The IITs have an acceptance rate of 1%, among the lowest in the world. Similar statistics hold for most seats of higher education in the country. Meritocracy has propelled the nation forward, and keeping a non-merit based reservation, especially as high as 49.5%, goes against this principle. The IITs have an intake of around 5000 students. Increasing reservations by 27% would cause 1350 deserving students from the general category to lose out on IIT education. Similar effects would filter down to all colleges in India. This would leave deserving students no option but to either seek undergraduate education abroad or in the absence of adequate monetary resources settle for a lot less than they deserve. We are in strong opposition to any such move.

Reservation exists at every level of education in India. The government has neglected the implementation of existing policies to promote social equality. Primary education is neglected. Facilities for education at the school level are both insufficient and poor. It is only through a strengthening of the grass root educational infrastructure that the needy sections of society can adequately avail of higher education and benefit. Rather than pursue these existing initiatives, the Government of India has chosen to take the easier option of changing policy.

Such policies will benefit only the ‘creamy layers’ of the reserved categories and will not reach the intended beneficiaries. It is a well known fact that affluent families have exploited reservation generation after generation. It is these families that have no need for reservation that will continue to benefit from the 104th amendment. The Government of India is lulling the poor into a false sense of security and subjecting able and deserving candidates from ALL classes and castes to undue competition, frustration and stress. 49.5% reservation will NOT benefit the needy. We assert that the 104th amendment is an attempt to mislead the nation’s people and vehemently oppose it.

Reservation represents an assumption that marginalized communities can never make it. It is a policy that inspires dependence not the emancipation and independence of communities. It is time that the Government of India realized its responsibility to empower these marginalized communities with good primary education, better infrastructure and opportunities so they may compete with the so called ‘upper castes’ and not against them. Reservation will only cripple these communities and give them crutches they can’t outgrow. As members of the student community we urge the nation to raise its voice so it may be heard above the din of political hogwash.