Being Reasonable...

Ok, I have seen the on goings and kept my mouth shut for too long on this. The reservations debate goes on and hats off to the students and doctors , who mind you without any political backing whatsoever and in spite of being continuously threatened by the government about their termination orders, kept the agitation going. And also to the media which continues to focus this news in its headlines.

After a meeting the student leaders last week, prime minister Manmohan Singh has said' he foresees a massive expansion in capacities of the higher education system which would see a huge growth in the educational opportunities available to all classes and categories of students. Therefore, they need not be worried about shrinking educational opportunities'.

In essence what he meant was for a corresponding 27% quotas brought for the OBC's, there will be a increase in the number of seats available on general merit. Which of course means that the student intake will be increased by 54%.

But wait a minute!!! 54% is a big big number. Ok let us for a minute, assume that this is a reasonable solution. But why O’ why is the government in a such a tearing hurry? I mean the HRD minister says the 54% hike will be implemented in one go the very next academic year, whereas the PMO says it is considering the report submitted by the GOM(group of ministers) which wanted to implement these reservations in three phases starting from next year onwards. Where exactly does the government stand on this? It should come out clear on this.

When the HRD minister says he wants to implement the 54% hike in one next year onwards, doesn’t it smack of political opportunism? I mean, a 54 % hike in student intake would also mean that there should be a corresponding increase in the infrastructure (classrooms, libraries) and more importantly faculty members. Many of the IIT's are already facing shortage of close to 20% of faculty members. So how does the government propose to handle these issues? Is the government aware that its actions may turn even the institues of higher learnings into substandard institutes if these issues are not handled in a sensitive manner? Everybody knows the state of government schools in India. The drop out rate of students and the absenteeism of teachers in these schools is already well documented. Do we want our institutes of higher learning to deteriorate too? And I think, that's why it is important to keep the issue burning and the agitation going.

Here is what I feel the next phase of agitations should concentrate upon:

1. Unless each and every institute is ready for the 54% increase in the student intake in all aspects like the infrastructure and faculty members, the status quo should be maintained. Even if the entire exercise takes more than 3-4 years, so be it. There should be no downfall in the standards and quality of education associated with these institutes. There is no time based boundaries for our law enforcers (i.e. the CBI / police) to solve a case nor are our courts exactly known for dispensing speedy justice, right? Surely two wrongs don’t make one right, I know that. But there, if the argument is that truth should prevail, no longer how much time is consumed, the same yard stick should be applied here too. Make sure that these institutes, each one of them is ready for the increase in the intake of students, until then, in order to ensure that there is no deterioration of standards, the status quo should be maintained.

2. The main issue of reservation itself: Exclude the creamy layer of the OBC's from these reservations, so that these reservations help only the people that it is intended to assist

Of course all these questions arise only when one considers the solution that the government came up with as reasonable, which I believe it is not. Which way will the wind blow now is something to be seen? How long will the agitating students and doctors hold on to their stand against the might of the government?

Doctors, though considered life savers by most of the aam janta, were in fact considered a disgraced lot till the recent past and were perceived to be hankering after money. The profession of a doctor was no longer considered a novel one. But I guess the stand that the doctors have taken, rather the stand which the majority of the doctors have taken will perhaps change the mindset of a lot of people.

One last word:

Ok...make it one last paragraph. Lots of patients, most of whom cannot afford the more expensive private practitioners/ hospitals and who look up to the government hospitals as their saviors were a harrassed lot, and I think here the doctors should take a more reasonable stand. I don’t think all the doctors should go on a strike to have their demands met. Mind you, during the first two days of protest, perhaps it was about the numbers too, I mean the more the number of people coming out on streets and protesting against this, the better. But now, this has turned into a country wide agitation, what with even the IIT, IIM , Engineering students and even people from general walk of life coming out and supporting the doctors. I feel at least 30% of the doctors in each hospital should be working and the rest 70% can continue to protest. And this 30% can perhaps be rotated on a day to day basis. I for one feel, it will create greater good will for the doctors among the general public.