Reservations - a blessing or a curse.

Lot of debate is going on about the fairness of the reservation sytem that exists in the indian education system and the government institutions. Talks are on for fresh quotas for the OBCs as well along with SC/STs that exists at present. The politicians are trying again to boost their vote banks by incorporating quotas even in private companies and introducing fresh quotas for OBCs in other institutions.

Why was this quota system introduced in the first place? It was to reduce the gap between the 'lower' caste and the 'upper' caste people. It was supposed to get dissolved after 50yrs but when the time for it to stop existing came, instead of removing it, the quota was further increased and govt has plans to further increase it. Clearly the motive has blurred. It is no more bridging the gap instead it is doing the reverse.

Reservations were done to bring SC/STs at par with others so that they are not looked down upon bt today because of reservations that is what is happening. When any of the SC/STs get into any of the good colleges and they dont perform well, their hardwork and calibre is reduced to incompetency in no time whereas for general candidates, its taken in the stride. Students who become doctors through such reservations are looked down upon. Even during the placements they are considered inferior to the general category people. Reservation is creating a whole new class of educated 'lower' caste people who are considered inferior to others even though they are at par with the general category candidate. All of this because of reservation. They are not even given a fair chance to prove themselves and to show that they dont lack the intelligence or the IQ that a 'general' category student has.

I guess the problem is in the basic education system because people who are not economically sound are not able to provide their children good primary education till Std.12 because of which these children are not able to have strong basics in core subjects. Therefore good schools should be provided to them which are at par with any of the private schools of the country. These schools should have negligible tuition fees. Secondly, today in any of the undergraduate or postgraduate competitive exams, coaching institutes play an important role in giving a direction to the students which economically weak students are not able to take up. Therefore,I guess such students should have reservation in such coaching institutes and they should be provided the coaching on a subsidize amount. This way the intelligence and calibre of the SC/STs and OBCs will not be considered inferior to others and they would be provided with a platform to prove themselves.

Instead of having reservations in the undergraduate colleges like IITs or post graduate colleges like IIMs or any other competitive exams, which will only hamper the present scenario, tuition fees and the cost of education in these institutes should be reduced for economically weak students.

Women's day???

Yesterday was women's day. Newspapers were full of articles about certain successful women and how women are excelling in various fields. They are entering domains that were previously considered to be men's arena. There were ads for various products for women and for men to gift to their women to make them feel special. It was said that it is a day to celabrate womenhood etc etc.
It made me question that "Why isnt there similarly a men's day???", "Why is it that women require a day to celebrate their womenhood while men dont need any such day at all???". We talk about equality of women and at the same time we have such daysAll the talks about equality and stuff are just that, talks. . I find this day to be a symbol of the fact that women still have a long way to go even to reach somewhat to the same status as men. If we look at the Indian scenario where more than 70% of the population is in rural areas then I guess we should look at the situation of women in such areas. Even today women are considered to be a commodity there. Even today they are brutally abused, embarassed, harassed, molested and what not on the basis of them being witches. Ever heard of "wizards" getting punished? NO then why only females. Even today we have female trafficking. Even today females are being burned and tortured for dowry and several other meagre reasons and this thing is prevalent even in educated urban homes. Many times we come across cases where well educated females are being tortured by their inlaws. The cases of rape and molestation are on the high. Then in what terms are we talking about the equality of women. The situation has definitely improved if we compare present India with the India 70yrs ago. But is the pace of the improvement satisfactory?? The number of females getting educated has increased and the number of female foeticide has decreased but is this change in pace with the expected improvement. Why is it that dowry system exists till date in most of the homes no matter how educated or "modern" they are? and the same is the case with female foeticide. Even today females are expected to stay at home and take care of household and children no matter how well educated they are. Even today men consider it below their dignity to help in the household chores even though their wives are working in equally challenging jobs
With such a mentality we can never talk about the equality of women. Its nothing but a farce in the present scenario. The day when we start having days like "International Men's Day" or the day when "International Women's Day" loses its value will be the day when we can say that women have somewhat the same status as men.

P.S: You might think I am a feminist but according to me, I am a realist.