‘Reserve’ for those who ‘Deserve’!

One with x number of marks gets into a good college, and one with x+ doesn't! To any logical mind, this is injustice! Why does our education system not understand this? A piece of an article written by a student today arose the many suppressed but rebellious feelings that I too faced sometime back, just like many unfortunate others. For those who fall on either side, it may not make a difference. But for a student who dreams  to pursue an MBBS doesn't get through a college and his/her counterpart does that with even lesser marks, it isn't a pleasant feeling, friends! Reservations! For those underprivileged- agreed! But for how long, now the sides are getting reversed. It isn't great to be born in the ‘open’ category, or if your family annual earnings come into the ‘creamy layer’ (applicable for some castes), it just means you need to work harder than your ‘reserved category’ counterparts to seek a seat in an educational institute. It’s a mockery when you hear someone saying, ‘I will get through, as I have the caste certificate’!- especially when we talk that religion, caste, creed and sex should in no way influence rights of an individual, as per our ‘secular’ constitution. Even Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar wanted the practice to be in effect only for 10 years. When you want to abide by the laws of the constitution, why not fully?

Are reservations a foolproof solution for the betterment of the underprivileged- the poor? Today, anyone from the upper castes can be poor and those from ‘so called’ categorized lower castes can be richer. Then how do you allot seats? A poor meritorious student may not be able to take up Engineering or any course, considered by society to be ‘opulent’, just because he doesn't fall into one of those categories. How fair is it to waive off lakhs to a student coming from a rich background, just because he/she was born with a ‘reserved caste’ tag. And with jobs it’s another horizon! It’s not just giving opportunities or a seat, it is a question of the career prospects, dreams, aspirations and the most formative and decisive years of an individual!

A solution could be to just provide scholarships or excuse fees for meritorious, deserving students. Then our country will have managers, doctors and officers who actually deserve to be there. When ‘equality’ is a trending word today, isn't it time to re-consider the basics where the future of the country takes its shape?