Reservation Papers

A lot of people keep talking on the issue of reservation of jobs for people who have been socially oppressed in the past. I am not capable of saying anything new on the topic. I don't want to voice my opinion because it cannot affect the issue in any way. But I can always tell a couple of stories on this topic. There was a student nurse doing midwifery when I was a resident doctor in 1981. I remembered her for two reasons. One was that her name was almost the same as mine. There was just an extra 'a'. The other reason was that she was knowledgeable, and had the right attitude about work. She worked as a staff nurse in different parts of our hospital and finally reached our operation theater. She was still a staff nurse, though she still was knowledgeable and still had the same attitude as before. We talked about a few things and the topic of reservations in jobs came up. “They should keep reservations either for education or jobs, not both” she said. “They should keep reservations for education, not or jobs” I said. “Jobs are about giving service to people. We should have the best possible people giving service irrespective of cast and religion.” “Reservation policy has ruined everything” she said. “Look at me. I joined this institute in 1979 as a student. Today I am still a staff nurse while another person who was born in 1981 is a sister-in-charge of a ward, thanks to the reservation policy.” She said this with a smile on her lips, but I have a feeling there was moisture in her eyes. I am also thinking of my son. He wanted to get into IIT, the prestigious engineering institute. He had worked very hard. He was selected, but did not enter IIT because he did not get the subject of his choice. He opted for BITS, an almost equally prestigious institute. He is a brilliant engineer today. But I am a father who finds it difficult to move on. I still think he would have been happier with an IIT degree. The other day I was talking to a colleague, whose son got admission into IIT. I was happy for her and asked what his score in the entrance test was. It turned out it was quite low. Looking at the surprise on my face, she said: “My husband has a paper which states that he is of a reserved category. So my son got admission into IIT.” I was stunned. A highly qualified couple, with loads of money independent of the qualifications, lavish life-styles, frequent trips to the developed countries for pleasure, the works: and they get their son into IIT not because they belong to a reserved category but because 'the husband possesses a paper which states he belongs to a reserved category'. The husband also possesses another paper which states he is a farmer. So they have purchased a farmhouse, not for farming but as a second home for weekends. I and many other like me cannot buy agricultural land in this country even if we want to farm because we are not farmers. I think something is seriously wrong in our country when students with merit are denied educational opportunities they deserve while others get in because of possession of papers which state they belong to reserved categories. Real farmers commit suicides because they cannot make it, while people buy agricultural land for pleasure only because they possess papers which state they are farmers.