Reservation in Higher Education- Divide and Rule Policy.

Introduction:

“Reservation in Higher Education and Jobs in Private Sector”...Yes or No? There has been lot of debate on this subject across the country. People are agitating...people are on hunger strike; Students have different views...professionals have different views. As per the interview with Cabinet Minister, (Human Resourse Development) Mr. Arjun Singh...on CNN-IBN, he is not willing to accept any facts and fingers. In short, after the interview he looks like a confused person...might be an effect of his age. Lets start from the very beginning, on the 27th of June 1961 Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru (First Prime Minister of India) wrote to the Chief Ministers: I dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain second rate or third rate. The moment we encourage the second rate, we are lost. And then he adds pointedly: This way lies not only folly, but also disaster.



Lets have a look at some other figures...”Learning from Past Experiences”...

NSSO, which is a government appointed body, has actually in its research in 1999 - which is the most latest research shown - that 23.5 per cent of all university seats are already with the OBCs. And that is just 8.5 per cent less than what the NSSO believes is the OBC share of the population. So, for a difference of 8 per cent, would reservations be the right way of making up the difference? A study done by the IITs themselves shows that 50 per cent of the IIT seats for the SCs and STs remain vacant and for the remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent are the candidates, who even after six years fail to get their degrees. So, clearly, in their case, reservations are not working. Parliamentary Committee on the welfare for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes says that “looking at the Delhi University, between 1995 and 2000, just half the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Castes level and just one-third of the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Tribes level were filled. All the others went empty, unfilled.”

Sukhdev Thorat, the Chairman of the UGC. He points out that today, at higher education levels - that is all universities, IITs and IIMs - there is already a 1.2 lakh vacancy number. 40 per cent of these are in teaching staff, which the IIT faculty themselves point out that they have shortages of up to 30 per cent.

Fifty years after the reservations were made, statistics show, according to The Hindustan Times, that overall in India, only 16 per cent of the places in higher education are occupied by SCs and STs. The quota is 22.5 per cent, which means that only two-thirds of the quota is occupied. One third is going waste, it is being denied to other people.

In short, reservations mean that a lesser-qualified candidate gets preference over a more qualified candidate, solely because in this case, he or she happens to be an OBC. In other words, the upper castes are being penalized for being upper caste.

Why Quota? Why Reservations? Will this help “underprivileged” communities to come at par with others? I don't think so. If the foundation is not strong...one cannot make strong building on it. If you really want to bring everyone on same platform...strengthen the Primary Education; Improve the course material; provide teachers at that level and make people strong enough to compete with each other...provide the platform for institutes and corporates to choose the best.

Mandal Commission...A regretful step...First Major Step towards reservation and quota system...beginning of caste based politics...

1) The Mandal Commission was officially called Second backward Classes Commission.

2) It derives its name from parliamentarian BP Mandal, who chaired the Commission.

3) The Mandal Commission was constituted by the Morarji Desai government in 1978 to consider action politics for backward classes, aimed at redressing caste discrimination.

4) The Commission Report was submitted in Dec 1980. It sought reservation for 27 per cent of all services and public sector undertakings under the central government and 27 per cent of all admissions to institutions of higher education for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

5) The percentage was over and above the existing 22.5 per cent reservation for SCs/STs.

6) In Aug 1990, the then Prime Minister VP Singh assured its implementation in government jobs.

7) It led to widespread protests, which finally led to his resignation.

8) There were many self-immolations attempts, including that of Rajeev Goswami, a DU student.

9) In 1993, the Supreme Court upheld 27 per cent reservation for OBCs.

10) But it was subject to the exclusion of socially advanced persons/sections from amongst the OBCs.

11) Children of Class I officers with income of Re one lakh were also excluded.

12) The exclusion-income limit was revised to Rs 2.5 lakh in 2004.

13) The reservation came into effect in Sept 1993 after the recommendations were accepted.

14) In Aug 2005, the SC abolished all caste-based reservations in unaided private colleges.

15) On Dec 2005, the Lok Sabha passed the 104th Constitution Amendment Act 2005, rolling back the SC judgement.

16) The new clause allowed reservations for SC/ST and OBCs in private unaided educational institutions.

17) The latest controversy erupted over the government's proposal to introduce 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in central government-funded higher educational institutes like IITs and IIMs.

Earlier Mandal Commission identified 11 indicators for providing reservation and quota is higher education. They were:

Social

Castes/classes considered as socially backward by others.

Castes/classes which mainly depend on manual labour for their livelihood.

Castes/classes where the percentage of married women below 17 is 25% above the state average in rural areas and 10% in urban areas; and that of married men is 10% and 5% above the state average in rural and urban areas respectively.

Castes/classes where participation of females in work is at least 25% above the state average.

Educational

Castes/classes where the number of children in the age group of 5 to 15 years who never attended school is at least 25% above the state average.

Castes/classes where the rate of student drop-out in the age group of 5-15 years is at least 25% above the state average.

Castes/classes amongst whom the proportion of matriculates is at least 25% below the state average

Economic

Castes/classes where the average value of family assets is at least 25% below the state average.

Castes/classes where the number of families living in kachcha houses is at least 25 % above the state average.

Castes/classes where the source of drinking water is beyond half a kilometer for more than 50% of the households.

Castes/classes where the number of the house-holds having taken a consumption loan is at least 25% above the state average.

We have seen even during those years that “Reservation” is just not acceptable. Even if after Close to 60 yrs of Independence (we will be celebrating our Diamond jubilee year of Independence between 15th August 2006-15th August 2007), we are saying that we have not done anything to bring up the social status of people then we are just nullifying all the achievements. Had this been done 5 yrs or 10 yrs after the independence...it would have been acceptable but not after 55 yrs of independence.

Conclusion

Need is to improve the standard of education at “Primary Level”, make people competent enough to fight in “Open Competition” and not to reserve the seats or provide any type of quota. The vociferous protest against reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and the growing unease about reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes reflects the sharp conflicts which are erupting in Indian society over the distribution of a limited number of Government jobs and educational resources. It should be noted that the vocal opposition to the reservations for OBCs goes hand in hand with a more disguised resentment against reservation for the scheduled castes and tribes. One has only to recall to the Gujarat anti-reservation movement of 1981 and the recent December, 1989 U.P. agitation against the Parliament extending the reservation of seats in legislatures for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes for another ten years.

The movement against reservations in the present Indian context is definitely retrograde and objectively serves the interests of those who seek to preserve the dominance of the upper castes. The plea against reservations is advanced on the basis of equality of opportunity and merit. In an unequal society like India, where scheduled castes, tribes and shudras (the bulk of whom are the OBCs) have been discriminated against in choice of occupation, social mobility and control over the means of production, all talk of equality, without taking into account this reality, reduces equality to the concept of formal equality.

As for merit, it is perfectly possible in India to discriminate in recruitment and promotions, on the basis of caste prejudices or preferences, militating against merit. Further, merit, as the Mandal Commission and a host of other commissions and Supreme Court judgments have pointed out, must be seen in the context of achieving real equality of opportunities, social environment and compensatory discrimination to ensure social justice.

I sum up my feeling through the lines of following poem by Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) about accumulation of State power by the targeting of specific groups one at a time captures the slippery slope of the law very well:

First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Before I conclude, here are views of Mr. Sam Pitroda (Chairman, National Knowledge Commission), on reservation in Higher Education and Jobs:

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the quota system as long as it is applied judiciously and at the right levels. It cannot become a blanket solution for all time to come. It is my considered position to reject labels on the basis of anyone's birth. It is an outdated, antiquated thinking to keep talking about caste based disadvantages. The first step for me is to reject all such labels in the 21st century and focus on equality for youth. In my case, hard work, good education and focus on technology helped me a great deal to overcome any disadvantages that I had because of what people still obsessively describe as caste.

Technology gave me an equal footing for everything I have done in my life and career. I have said this before. Technology is a great leveler, second only to death. I have always negotiated challenges on the basis of my whatever little intrinsic merit quality and perseverance. I have never taken the route of quota or reservations. I hope this shows that it is possible.

What we need is to create opportunities for everyone of equal merit to have proper access. On this subject there are many views and many sentiments. At times people look at this in terms of black and white while there are many shades of gray.

Proper primary education is the key to building a sound foundation for higher education in the university. I wish we focus on this first. I also believe that every child must have opportunity for good education without worrying about caste or income levels. If the student is qualified we must find funding to support them in colleges. It is time to go beyond labels that stigmatize an entire group of people. I believe now in the early part of the 21st century we should make fundamental changes in the way we approach the concept of education, employment, equality and empowerment. But the point is it is time for a whole new approach in the 21st century. We cannot build the nation in the 21st century with the 19th century mindset.

Looking forward to your comments and opinion

Reference:

Newspapers: The Times of India;Hindustan Times

News Channels: Star News; CNN-IBN

Sanjeev Himachali India E-mail: ss_himachali@yahoo.com; Mobile No. +91-9876328841

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sanjeev_Himachali

Interview with IIT-B Director

During his eight-year tenure as director of IIT-Bombay, professor Ashok Misra was known for enhancing research and innovation at the institute. Misra spoke to Mihika Basu before leaving for Bangalore to join Intellectual Ventures, a US-based private firm, on the challenges that lie ahead for India's IITs...

You are joining a private firm. Do you think the best minds today are being taken away by the private sector?
I had offers earlier, too, from the private sector and could have accepted them. However, I wanted to contribute to the IIT system, which I have done. I had a-year-and-a-half left in my tenure, so I decided to do something different. A few years down the line, I might not get such a great opportunity. The public sector is losing some of its best minds to the private sector due to better opportunities, pay and emoluments, but such an exodus is not happening at the IITs, primarily because of the opportunities that people get here in terms of research and interaction with the best, globally.
But would you agree that low remuneration is a reason why educational institutes, including the IITs, are facing a faculty crunch?
There's no doubt that remuneration is low in educational institutions including the IITs, but teachers compensate by engaging in other activities, like consultancy research and continuing education programmes. At the IITs, teachers are able to devote considerable time to research, which may not be possible at other engineering institutes. In the next three years, all IITs will see the student strength increasing by 150%, and this requires simultaneous faculty recruitment and infrastructure development. This is putting a lot of pressure on the system, hence expansion has to be planned.
What challenges do the IITs face?
There should have been a more controlled expansion. All the IITs are practically running the new ones and all of us started without a detailed project report, which we are preparing now. The IITs have a huge challenge in front of them to ensure that excellence isn't compromised. Also, they have to ensure that the eight new IITs have the same quality of faculty, but currently, the numbers are not there. IIT-Bombay is the only one mentoring two new IITs, so we shouldn't jump into the second one. I suggest that the establishment of the second IIT be postponed by a year, but do it in a planned way.
How long do you think the new IITs will take to become as good as the mentors?
If we get the funds and the people on time, it will take a minimum of 25 years. Even the old IITs are expanding, so in 25 years, the new ones will have to compete with those which have already completed 75 years.
Do you think IITs should be given more autonomy than they currently enjoy?
Yes, I strongly feel so. While we have academic autonomy in terms of selection of courses, curriculum and research, there are certain restrictions which shouldn't be there. Faculty reservations, for instance, is something that all IITs don't favour. The human resources ministry said it would re-think it, but the earlier order has not yet been withdrawn.
Your advice to IIT-Bombay?
IIT-Bombay should strive to be in the top 10 globally over the next 10 next years. For this, it will have to enhance research and innovation, alongside maintaining high quality education.
Would you like to be associated with IIT-Bombay in the future?
I would give back whenever I am asked to and in whatever capacity I can. IIT-Bombay has an active advisory council, which has played a crucial role in enhancing several programmes, including incubation. If the institute invites me to join the council, I would be happy to be a part of it.

Video Lectures on Single Variable Calculus.

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Limits, continuity, Trigonometric limits

Derivatives of products, quotients, sine, cosine

Chain rule, Higher derivatives

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Hyperbolic functions (cont.) and exam 1 review

Lecture Notes:

Derivatives, slope, velocity, rate of change

Limits, continuity, Trigonometric limits
Derivatives of products, quotients, sine, cosine
Chain rule, Higher derivatives
Implicit differentiation, inverses
Exponential and Logarithmic differentiation; hyperbolic functions
Hyperbolic functions (cont.) and exam 1 review

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I thought posting them all together would be much better than posting each one separately. :) These are powerpoint presentations that are designed with the help of Animations to make visualizing Organic Chemistry much easier.





Alkane
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IUPAC Naming
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Acid-Base Concept
Alcohol and Ether
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Sears and Zemansky's University Physics: With Modern Physics

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Refining the most widely adopted and enduring physics text available, University Physics with Modern Physics, Twelfth Edition continues an unmatched history of innovation and careful execution that was established by the best selling Eleventh Edition. Assimilating the best ideas from education research, this new edition provides enhanced problem-solving instruction, pioneering visual and conceptual pedagogy, the first systematically enhanced problems, and the most pedagogically proven and widely used homework and tutorial system available. Mechanics, Waves/Acoustics, Thermodynamics, Electromagnetism, Optics, Modern Physics. For all readers interested in university physics.


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Hugh D. Young is Emeritus Professor of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. He attended Carnegie Mellon for both undergraduate and graduate study and earned his Ph.D. in fundamental particle theory under the direction of the late Richard Cutkosky. He joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon in 1956 and has also spent two years as a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

Prof. Young’s career has centered entirely around undergraduate education. He has written several undergraduate-level textbooks, and in 1973 he became a co-author with Francis Sears and Mark Zemansky for their well-known introductory texts. With their deaths, he assumed full responsibility for new editions of these books until joined by Prof. Freedman for University Physics.
Prof. Young is an enthusiastic skier, climber, and hiker. He also served for several years as Associate Organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh, and has played numerous organ recitals in the Pittsburgh area. Prof. Young and his wife Alice usually travel extensively in the summer, especially in Europe and in the desert canyon country of southern Utah.

Roger A. Freedman is a Lecturer in Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Freedman was an undergraduate at the University of California campuses in San Diego and Los Angeles, and did his doctoral research in nuclear theory at Stanford University under the direction of Professor J. Dirk Walecka. He came to UCSB in 1981 after three years teaching and doing research at the University of Washington.At UCSB, Dr. Freedman has taught in both the Department of Physics and the College of Creative Studies, a branch of the university intended for highly gifted and motivated undergraduates. He has published research in nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, and laser physics. In recent years, he has helped to develop computer-based tools for learning introductory physics and astronomy. When not in the classroom or slaving over a computer, Dr. Freedman can be found either flying (he holds a commercial pilot’s license) or driving with his wife, Caroline, in their 1960 Nash Metropolitan convertible.

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From the Banks of Godavari to Google

‘God has always been planning things for me’
Naga Naresh Karutura has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore.

You may ask, what’s so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?

Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, ‘I will come and pick you up’. And in no time, he was there to guide me)

Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, “God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky.”

Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.

Childhood in a village
I spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari. My father Prasad was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying.

Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn’t know he could not read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies!

Another memory that doesn’t go away is the floods in the village and how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle. I also remember plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns.

I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends. I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon. The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields!

I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher’s lap!

January 11, 1993, the fateful day
On the January 11, 1993 when we had the sankranti holidays, my mother took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father’s friend’s lorry. As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door.

It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs.

The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a government hospital.

First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents do?

In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.

I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three months.

Life without legs
I don’t think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits.

‘I never wallowed in self-pity’
The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends!

All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me everywhere.

God’s hand
I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town. There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school.

If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.

My sister, my friend
When the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku, a town, and admitted both of us in a Missionary school. They decided to put my sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained.

She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings.

She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school.

My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid. I never wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and the others also looked at me as a competitor.

Inspiration
I was inspired by two people when in school; my Maths teacher Pramod Lal who encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests, and a brilliant boy called Chowdhary, who was my senior.

When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600.

Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for me. Pramod Sir’s recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per year, which my parents could never afford.

Moving to a residential school
Living in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year for me to adjust to the new life.

There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents didn’t know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do. If the results were good, they would praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that. They did not want me to feel bad.

They are such wonderful supportive parents.

Life at IIT- Madras
Though my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.

Here, my role model was Karthik who was also my senior in school. I looked up to him during my years at IIT- Madras.

He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me and guide me a lot when I was here.

I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to my lab mates, I gained a lot.
‘There are more good people in society than bad ones’

Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.

Joining Google R&D
I did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now.

Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.

I am lucky
Do you know why I say I am lucky?

I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a conference. We met a kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel fees from then on.

I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard. After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow. Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who wants to do things faster.

One great thing about the hospital is, they don’t think their role ends by just fixing the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras, my fees were taken care of by them. So, my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parents and they could take care of my sister’s Nursing studies.

Surprise awaited me at IIT
After my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute without my knowledge.

I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the department for me. It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met with my requirements, it would be good.

Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary, Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000. What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute.

My life changed after that. I felt free and independent.

That’s why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at every step.

The world is full of good people
I also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones. I want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life, you can too.

Courtesy :- Rediff