Saturday, 29 October 2016

Reservations in TN

By Ezhilan Naganathan

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Is-it-time-to-question-Tamil-Nadus-quota-policy/articleshow/46678784.cms

CHENNAI: A hierarchical system of social discrimination practised for nearly 2,000 years has made this country a land of caste and conflict. This divisive pyramid of oppression is very much in existence today in social and political life.

In government, judiciary, the industrial and agricultural sector, and in business, explicit discrimination continues on the basis of caste.

All reform movements originating in this country have been in the nature of resistance to brahminical religious oppression. Tamil Nadu forms the epicentre of this resistance. Here the Dravidian ethos is aligned with the human values of Jainism and Buddhism.

Social engineers such as Ramalinga Adikalar, Ayothee Dasar and Periyar inculcated the virtues of humanism and universal brotherhood in successive generations to such an extent that any political or social organization formed in Tamil Nadu has to adhere to these standards.

The Tamil Nadu mechanism of caste-based reservation spans more than a century. The state scores high among large states in human development index with inclusive development primarily because of its reservation policy, as stated in National Human Development Report 2001 released by the Central government.

The report states that Tamil Nadu has a legacy of social reform movements that have taken the state in the desired direction. The demographic transition achieved in Tamil Nadu has largely been a cumulative effect of gradual improvements in population, literacy rate along with social mobilization.

There is always a false campaign that reservation brings down merit. Tamil Nadu had proved it wrong in all sectors of education and employment. The increase in cut-off marks for government medical colleges for all categories shows that a chain reaction has set in breaking caste barriers. The gap between various categories is very little.

Comparison with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on which the Centre spends Rs 500 crore every year helps illustrate the contrasts. More than half the medical doctors who have graduated from AIIMS so far are not in India. They are serving the UK and the US health systems. But more than 70% of medical doctors educated in Tamil Nadu government medical colleges, through reservation system, are in government service.

The infant mortality rate (one of the indices of human development) for Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh is more than 60 per 1000 live births. The same infant mortality rate for Tamil Nadu is less 24 per 1000 live births.

Any health programme implemented in Tamil Nadu is a huge success because the reservation policy has produced health professionals from all communities. This has led to effective delivery of health and educational reforms to all sections of society.

All political parties in India have come to a consensus regarding caste-based reservation. Even the RSS has accepted this mechanism as a tool for social engineering and empowerment. It takes maturity to understand that this caste-based reservation is a social upliftment manoeuvre rather than an economic plan for the socially distressed.

The mode of caste-based reservation will become irrelevant only when our society renounces caste from its civilian life and removes it from social intercourse — from marriages to social gatherings of any form.

Any step by the judiciary, legislative or the executive to tamper with this caste-based reservation tool without making any attempt to eradicate the foundations of the caste system will raise doubts in the minds of socially disadvantaged citizens.



They will only see this as a campaign that does not use religious doctrine or the argument of equality and merit but maliciously inverts the idea of social justice to challenge reservation. 

t would be instructive to quote Babasaheb Ambedkar here: "We are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics, we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If you continue to deny it for long we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. We must move this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy."


(The author is a physician and a rights activist)
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Reservation and privitazation came during the same time 1991. I would attribute the success to public participation in privitization ..
 
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Wrong!

Reservation has been there since the day The Constitution was written!

Secondly, Tamilnadu implemented 68% reservation in 1980 under MGR and that was made 69% under Kalaignar in 1989.
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Funny how there are still people who attribute Tamilnadu's socioeconomic growth to everything under the Sun except reservation!
Aparna Krishnan And I know the heartburn it has caused the FCs. And how they explain their emigration to USA by quoting this !
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula We have the highest number of women in the non agricultural workforce, highest number of Dalit or Women owned businesses, highest number of entrepreneurs in India.

But people against reservation will still cry foul and claim all this success had nothing to do with reservations!

It's just the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf!
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Aparna Krishnan Uttar Pradesh has the highest % of FCs in the population and we all know where it stands today!
Aparna Krishnan The mindsets that led to deserting a country that nurtured one, will not not really prove of constructive use in the country itself if they had stayed on.
Aparna Krishnan Yes, I have seen an 'illiterate' village closely and for long to know what intelligence and wisdom there is - way above the Educated who preen themselves.
Aparna Krishnan Aparna Krishnan And in this context, the village is an SC village ! I would place the children in the highest IQ bracket, most of them. Cutting edge.
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Aparna Krishnan screw IQ and all other Western created, Indian Coconut propagated testing systems.
Aparna Krishnan Yes, I used that word rather hesitatingly. Because that is the word the Coconuts understand ! but it needs to be unequivocally dumped - agree totally.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Hmm.. Privatization in 1947 would have made it for all much sooner :) ya certainly.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Socialistic policies fixed it and made everyone squander for few seats, have acrimonious fight among each other.
Like · Reply · Yesterday at 4:13am
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Allowing public to take responsibilities and share credit, holds key. Since the day constitution was written it should have been privatization. It would have done miracles.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Today SCs fight which SC has the cake and want it caste based. BCs doubt which BC has the cake and want it per caste. Arundathiyar has got theirs. This will never end. Government holding everything under the sun, is the key reason for stagnation.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் How many Private vacancies in Tamilnadu as against Public? And southern districts, kongu region all grew by public entrepreneurships to a large extent. By the time reservations in government jobs came and everyone started moving into, pensions are take away and everything that used to attract masses towards government jobs aren't there now. 

ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Even the curse on private education / enterpreneuship is due the curbs and restrictions the government pose from syllabus, infrastructure etc., rather than allowing smaller simpler planning, participation and execution to take place.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் And there is failure in converting the advantage few community had to the benefit of others. It was almost decided that they have to be packed off and it actually happened :)
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Then why are Keralites flourshing everywhere other than Kerala? With just one child curbed accounting what's there to boast about in Kerala? They are there in middle east and everywhere in India.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Mandal commission's time is 1990 and liberal policies came up around the same time.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் A teacher posting in government aided school, college to vice chancellor - we know the rates. The same situation holds in other departments also. Some escape.
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Socialistic policies benefited the elite a lot more than they did the rest. The elite wouldn't have allowed anyone below to get any benefit.

Long before 1947, education and govt service was cornered by a few and denied to the rest. Check ICS stats. Check the education stats under the British. Reservations came in the 1920s in Madras Presidency to fix this anomaly.

No community was packed off! For how long will this lie be perpetuated?! It's ok for the elite to seek greener pastures but not ok if the masses of Kerala do it? Go check the businesses run by Keralites in the Gulf and the subsequent investments into Kerala.

Capital was cornered by the elite and nationalisation of banks had to happen to break that. Now the same elite is using dubious means of crony capitalism to literally loot the banks.

States like Tamilnadu and Kerala did effective land reorganisation which led to more wealth being spread over the population.

The point is simple, when the system was creating govt jobs reservations were opposed by the ones who cornered most of those jobs. Now the organised private sector which sucks up all the financial credit in the system has had it too easy for too long. Reservations will come in private sector too.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Ya. Per caste reservation shall come. No issues. It is a fact not perpetuation. Even from Kerala people left. :) British didn't know the jobs were for all ;) hmmkmm.. They could have distributed it to all..
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Don't the system know what is the population and hence what is the total number of jobs and seats it has to create. Super comedy.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் So British was the reason. And you mean to say Panagal king, Pollili Arasar and all were in the rest of the category.. Hmm.. Did British reserved those exclusively for them? Those who wanted them not to leave and who observed they gave opputunities to all are the one who brought the reservation also :) isn't it :)
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் system is skewed to favour the elite. That's why corporates looted 48 lac crores since 2004 and created just 2-3 million jobs. 90% of all employment is by agriculture and SMBs.

Privatisation is fine as long as it's in everyone's hands and not just the elite.
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Madras Presidency was ruled by Justice Party govt which brought in reservations. Because till then only Brahmins and Christian Nadars were educated and cornering the jobs under the Brits.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் People say Nehru had control fearing elites would take control with Psnchayat system. Now in sixty years in both socialistic as well as capitalistic way the elites have found ways to control. I am for decentralization of religion, power, education too. When that is done a balance would be created.
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula His fears were valid. If the economic system needs education and jobs, then both will have reservation as per population and socioeconomic conditions.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Justice party could have created as many jobs as needed for all. Involved brahmins and Christian nadars in the upliftment of others. The discourse was not at all that. It went far off track in mixing Arayan invasion as a cause for that situation. As though it was so for 2000 years. British alone came for the rescue of the rest. etc., etc.,
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula It's not the rural elite, who have nothing but past pride to hold onto, that is the issue. It's the urban elite that is a parasite
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் historical biases and oppression had/have to be addressed. Denial doesn't help!
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் What has Aryan invasion to do? What were the equivalent positions to ICS before British and isn't not the many Vellalla community who were responsible for that? They fought british. Lost things. Brahmins whom they supported had lost thrir support base they clinched in to British opputunities for their survival. It goes like that for me.
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Most evidence suggests it wasn't an invasion per se, but migration. Nationalism was redefined on the basis of language in Europe and the same happened here with the Dravidian language group people identifying themselves as different from the Indo-European language group people. Nothing wrong in that. This helped create focus on a non Vedic religion based culture, specifically inspired by Sangam era literature which is devoid of caste, in contrast to the post Vedic religious system marked by Birth based caste segregation.

The Brits won the lands and nothing wrong in Brahmins adopting to the needs of the new rulers and studying in the so called Macaulay system and working under them. It is survival and the common sense thing to do.

The problem is the denial of this by current day right wing Nationalists and intellectuals who propagate lies surrounding that whole period; namely Macaulay system ruined India, right wing elite were against the Brits, etc.
 
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Their problem is simple; as long as they were exclusive beneficiaries of a system, the system was fine. But when the benefits have to be shared with everyone, the system somehow becomes bad! 

ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Hmm.. There are more details to be dealt. Everyone in south have a migration story themselves. 

ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் They weren't exclusive beneficiaries in all spheres. Every caste has it's own domain. They all lost it to non support rendered by british in the aftermath of their conquest. Those brahmins who enjoyed the confidence of Kingman are also distinctly identified as Amarthya sect.
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Human migration is natural and without that, survival wouldn't be possible. We can discuss this only when people look at history with a disconnect. Unfortunately we peddle history with current politics in mind.

Amarthya? You mean Smarthas?
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் The permission of ruler is always needed. Manikkavachagar for example. Krishna Rama Brahmaraya for example. Brahmins can't just like that take up someone else profession as it happened in most sector in British. அமாத்திய பிராமணர்கள். If they leave their prescribed path they are outcastes, as in any caste it would be. That is first intitated by the community itself. Today we have fixed it with Caste certificates. That's it. I used to normally ask this to someone there used to be more brahmin doctors before than now due to reservation. Why do you want to be a brahmin as well as doctor?
Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் earlier it was a privileged stratification now, it's out of necessity.
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