Acting affirmative!

The vociferous opposition by a majority of the members of the National Knowledge Commission to the reservation policy being proposed by Mr. Arjun Singh is a sign that India and its political system are slowly maturing to a point wherein such seemingly unpopular viewpoints also have the right to being voiced in public. While six of the eight members of the commission, including the famous Sam Pitroda, known as the father of India’s communication revolution, have demanded that the Government maintain status quo on the issue of reservations, two other members have offered conditional support to the Government’s proposal, which in itself is a good thing, considering that outright support would have been suicidal.
Dr. P.M. Bhargava, one of the dissenting members, has stipulated that any increase or extension of the current reservation system would have to be accompanied by the setting up of approximately 4,00,000 government high schools, on the primary and secondary levels, as also any extension must be done without reducing in any manner the merit intakes. Mind you, the Commission is not opposed to the principle behind the proposed reservation policy, because in its press statement, the Commission has spoken of this being a historic opportunity to make higher education more socially inclusive, however what they wish to subject to further contemplation is the method to be followed. This is basically the point that the people objecting to the reservation policy have been trying to make throughout the entire protest period.
I do not believe that anyone, or rather any conscientious soul, would object to the State’s attempts to work towards the upliftment of certain communities, given the deplorable conditions that they have been subjected to, and continue to be subjected to. What may ruffle feathers is the attempt to resort to a system of positive discrimination, which in the long run, becomes counter-productive, as neither party is willing to let go of the status quo. The beneficiaries, being so, are unwilling to let go of the privileges and facilities entailed, and the others, being forced to let go of some opportunities are chafing at any attempt to increase the quanta of beneficiaries, even if they were to acknowledge that the need to do so is genuine.
Along the lines of Dr. Bhargava’s suggestion, I wish to suggest that the Government focus its attention on improving the primary and secondary education systems. Once these systems are capable of inculcating brilliance and of nurturing creativity in students, I have no doubt that the so-called social abyss currently witnessed in higher educational institutes will be bridged, albeit slowly. And rather than insisting on numeric quotas, the Government and the political system should try and evaluate other alternative approaches to affirmative action, which I am sure would be well appreciated if well-intentioned and well-planned.