Supreme Court : Increase in quota will divide nation

As expected, the last bastion of reason and freedom of India (the supreme court) has come down heavily on the government.

 

In a caustic remark the Supreme Court said that the proposed increase of OBC reservation would divide the great nation on the basis of caste.

A vacation bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice L S Panta ordered the Union of India to answer to three crucial questions:

1 What is the basis of the norms for fixing the OBC category?

2 What is the rational behind fixing it?

3 If the proposed reservation is implemented, what are the modalities and the basis for modalities? The apex bench gave an eight weeks time to file counter-affidavit on implementation of the policy. http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=68411

The UPA government has really underestimated the people of this country. The anti-quota movement is gathering steam everywhere in India. It will become harder and harder for the UPA government to escape from the just demand of the medical students for a judical (or even a non-political) commission into the effects of quotas on OBCs for the past 60 – 85 years.

The students, as well the blogosphere have sharpened their demand to a laser sharp focus. They want the government to conduct a scientific study of the quota policy – and they will not have anything else. They do not mind giving up their seats, but they want to make sure they give it up to the really oppressed and those with lack of opportunities. They have become more and more articulate and confident facing the media. Truth will always triumph, that is the motto of India, and that is what is driving the students and will ensure that the movement will gather momentum as the days go by.

Some positives :

• The Congress (especially the PM) has finally woken up to realize that the quota policy should not be guided by the politicos from TN. It is like asking a cat to formulate a security policy for your catch of fish. If you remember that the previous GoM had P.Chidambaram and Anbumani Ramadoss in it. In the new commission headed by Veerappa Moily the TN ministers have been sidelined (the DMK, PMK, even P.Chidambaram has been ignored). The TN brand of quotas have nothing to do with social justice and targeted at a particular community. Now that obviously cannot be extended to the rest of India. All these Dravidian stalwarts can now hope for is that the "judicial review commission" which is coming will spare their state.
• The BJP which has been quiet so far has supported the demand for a judicial study.http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=68413 This will ensure that the request for a judicial (or non-political study) will remain on the front burner. While no political party can be trusted with such an important issue, this is still a welcome sign.
• Thanks to Arjun Singhs scintillating performance on CNN-IBN, almost everyone is convinced that the government has NO DATA whatsoever on OBCs. It is a foregone conclusion that the SC, sooner or later will ask the government to make public the data on which the new OBC quota is based. The total "adhocness" was reinforced by PC, who basically said that "there is no need for data, because his life tells him that the OBC quota is reaching the right people". There is no report or study that can be dusted off the presented in the near future. With great sheepishness, now the government has to admit that the OBC quota policy has not been monitored at all for the past 16 years (in the north) and the past 50+ years in the south.
• One of the great sideeffects of this debate has been the widespread awareness it has created among people about the system. The people are amazed that TN does not exclude the creamy layer, even more amazed that communities they thought were dominant jamins actually are classified as backward, they are amazed that there are many families into their third of fourth generation quota benefits. Now, they want to rise above personal anecdotes and "PC style life-stories" and they want hard data. They want to know why a community X is classified as an OBC and why a community Y is not. The hunger for data has been created and will not be satiated without a thorough scientific study of the quota policy.
• Even more encouraging is the active participation of a large number of Muslim and even OBC students. The current set of students from the poorer sections (not based on caste) have worked enormously hard to get admissions to these institutes. I usuall refrain from personal anecdotes but I know a student who wrote down an entire study guide because he could not afford to xerox it. Now, these type of motivated people are there is all communities and if the system does not factor them in, we have no system.

To wind up: here is the most important thing about this agitation.

This is going to be the last agitation on this issue.

From next year, if the government has its way you will have 27% less people participating in this type of protest. Today, OBCs who came in via the "merit" route support the agitation but next year OBCs who come in via the "quota" route will not support this type of protest.

The time is now !