As far as i have observed the people who demand to completely dismantle reservation do not understand the fact that the society is inherently unequal and treating them equally is as good as discriminating them.
We want reservations because some communities deserve reservations. Please come to my village to understand that.
Whether it speeds up, or slows down the country's 'Growth' is beside the point.
Paalaguttapalle (Dalitwada)
Whether it speeds up, or slows down the country's 'Growth' is beside the point.
Paalaguttapalle (Dalitwada)
Tejas Harad
October 27 at 3:19pm ·
I was once discussing caste with a lawyer friend of mine. I told him how Brahmins are overrepresented in every field, including judiciary. He countered it by saying, but they are there because of their hard work and merit. They deserve to be in those positions. His immediate reference point was his own boss. He went on to tell me how brilliant he was.
My friend is a bahujan. I expected him to know the social/economic/cultural backwardness he comes from and how Brahmins have an obvious leg-up in all those three domains. But privilege isn't that obvious to the naked eye, more so if you are privileged yourself but, sometimes, even if you are not. However, the reason behind hegemony of one caste in every well-paid field of employment cannot be hard work and merit. There has to be other explanatory factor. And that factor is, of course, caste privilege.
Reservations were introduced to undo the unfair advantages of social, economic and cultural capital and also to undo the disadvantages of years of oppression by the privileged castes. We have the tendency to measure success of affirmative action by looking at work efficiency. That is why scholars like Ashwini Deshpande find it necessary to demonstrate that reservations have increased efficiency in railways. While this kind of research is necessary to counter the prejudicial notions of upper castes towards rest of the population, it is a very capitalistic parameter. The only thing one should be concerned about is whether those who benefited from affirmative action are leading better material lives or not. Do they have better homes, better food, better clothes, more secured lives now? If yes, that's the biggest success of reservations.
October 27 at 3:19pm ·
I was once discussing caste with a lawyer friend of mine. I told him how Brahmins are overrepresented in every field, including judiciary. He countered it by saying, but they are there because of their hard work and merit. They deserve to be in those positions. His immediate reference point was his own boss. He went on to tell me how brilliant he was.
My friend is a bahujan. I expected him to know the social/economic/cultural backwardness he comes from and how Brahmins have an obvious leg-up in all those three domains. But privilege isn't that obvious to the naked eye, more so if you are privileged yourself but, sometimes, even if you are not. However, the reason behind hegemony of one caste in every well-paid field of employment cannot be hard work and merit. There has to be other explanatory factor. And that factor is, of course, caste privilege.
Reservations were introduced to undo the unfair advantages of social, economic and cultural capital and also to undo the disadvantages of years of oppression by the privileged castes. We have the tendency to measure success of affirmative action by looking at work efficiency. That is why scholars like Ashwini Deshpande find it necessary to demonstrate that reservations have increased efficiency in railways. While this kind of research is necessary to counter the prejudicial notions of upper castes towards rest of the population, it is a very capitalistic parameter. The only thing one should be concerned about is whether those who benefited from affirmative action are leading better material lives or not. Do they have better homes, better food, better clothes, more secured lives now? If yes, that's the biggest success of reservations.
Shobana Ramkumar Has
that one person who got the benefit of the reservation passed on or
shared that benefit with others of his community or contributed towards
their upliftment?
Aparna Krishnan That
depends on his generosity. I see less enough generosity in the upper
classes, and so I do not see generosity as a precondition for the SC
getting the reservation that is his historical right.
Somu Kumar Aparna Krishnan nailed it!
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Everyone from FC take Vanaprastham around 55 and uplift others :)
Aparna Krishnan exactly !
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் Politically
Kings used to magnanimous. But democratic crooks haven't been. They
keep passing the blame. It makes a huge difference if some political
leader could say, Brahmins are people who considered it sin to leave
abroad to remain in villages and do what they have been ordained to do
for generations.
ஸ்ரீராமதாஸ் மகாலிங்கம் There are few, I know. one even considering it improper to learn English even now. Its not proper to make them popular. :)
Aparna Krishnan The educated brahmins have sold their souls. The educated of other castes also probably. But the brahmins sold out first.
Someone posted saying ISRO does high quality research because they dont have reservations in employment.
Each person who posts against reservations should mandatorily have to put their child in a neighbourhood government school till 12th and deal with the issues there. They are all for fair play. And for level playing ground. Lets start with them
Aparna Krishnan Level playing ground means 1. same govt school for all 2. Same level of literate parenting at home 3. Same level of nutrition/ malnutrition for all 4. Same level of
After that I agree, 'no reservations' ! Till then may we have reservations ?
Sanjay Maharishi Same distance from nearest water source. Same access to market..
Himanshu Rai Sharma Aparna issue of reservation is largely with rich obc class . who study in same schools are better off in many ways. Overcoming the creamy later certification is very easy too.
Aparna Krishnan Then let us correct that. Not scrap reservation ,because that need is real.
Reservations, and the need.
One does not need to delve into distant past privileges and argue.
1. The poor children (and the SC are certianly almost totally there in that category) face malnourishment, and are chronically anaemic.
2. The government schools are academically way inferior to where the wards of the rich go.
3. The academic guidance at illiterate homes is absent
4. The million family worries in a poor family drains the child.
5. An SC child faces the added pressures of overt and covert degogatory comments thro' college days, and before and after,
Somu Kumar Initially, I thought all those Youth for Equality (in reality, their name should be Youth for caste previlege) gang didn't understand your well-explained reasoning above but now I am convinced that they know but simply don't care.
Aparna Krishnan yes, even if cocconed with privileges into ananity - they cannot be that dumb. Must be utter indifference. Though such callousness is also somehow hard to beleive, and one continues to hope that they are simply dumbb - and so we keep playing the same worn out record again and again.
How many SC classmates did we have in school ? I had none. I never wondered why. In college there was one, and there were unsaid comments that he must be 'reservation'. That his English was not hoity toity accent did not help. We were the snobs who spoke fluent English, even if our readings and literacy in Indian languages was poor.
It took decades and a village for me to look back wondering at the silliness of english medium schooling and its baggage. Worse than silly, far worse. Many of my erstwhile classmates may still be living under those swaddles of superiority, stemming from their own enslavement to their colonial auperiority.
And these brownies, brown-outside-and-white-within, are the one who make policies for this land of mine. And today my children from Paalaguttapalle (Dalitwada) still struggle thro' the double burden of their poverty and the caste bias they face in college, and I grieve.
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