Last Updated on August 7, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar
Indian education system it seems is all set to get degraded, thanks to the reservation system. I agree that the reservation quota was introduced with the aim of helping out students hailing from the backward classes. Traditionally, these backward classes had been denied basic rights in the past. So, introducing reservation quota for them in educational institutes made perfect sense back then. But the situation has changed now. More and more people are misusing this caste based reservation system and toying around with it for their own advantage. The more eligible candidates are denied seats for professional courses! Let me discuss some intriguing facts about this whole reservation saga.
Financially sound students manage to make use of the reservation quota easily
Why was reservation quota introduced? It was to help students hailing from backward classes of the society. As I mentioned before, they were suppressed and denied basic rights since early days.
Naturally, they had poor financial background, no access to basic amenities etc. So, for them, reservation was a boon. And it made perfect sense too!
But these days, students who hail from SC, ST and OBC castes, who have good financial resources, are also making use of reservation quota to claim their ‘reserved seat’! There are rules pertaining to ‘creamy layer’ and ‘non creamy layer’. But still, such rules can easily be overcome!
Isn’t it unjust? Students from humble backgrounds are denied seats, so that an SC, ST or OBC student, who is financially sound can take that seat owing to his caste!
The ‘creamy layer’ criteria should be made much stricter. No matter which caste a student hails from, if his/her family has sound financial resources, they shouldn’t have access to reservation quota.
Capable students from general category have to struggle and compromise
Students hailing from general category in India are frustrated. I was one among them, back during the time when I was trying to get admission in an engineering college.
Seeing average and below average students getting admission into premier institutes ahead of me, I was jealous, to be honest. They hailed from backward classes, and many of them were well off, financially. They easily dodged the ‘creamy layer’ criteria, thanks to shoddy and corrupt Government officials, who offered them the necessary documents!
The result was that I had to compromise. I couldn’t make it to the college that I dreamt of, thanks to SC, ST and OBC kids (financially well off) who jumped the queue!
Incapable students often drop out
This thing happens more in case of professional courses like Engineering, MBBS and BDS. Below average students hailing from SC and ST category often manage to bag seats in Government Engineering, MBBS and BDS Colleges.
But these students lack the skills and aptitude to tackle these courses! The result is that they often get detained, repeatedly. A good portion of them even quit the course mid way into it, or even earlier!
What’s the point of giving seats to such undeserving candidates while denying deserving candidates a seat? I think an ‘Aptitude test’ should be conducted in case of such students so that the seats are not wasted and deserving students are denied seats in Government institutes.
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A suggestion: Reservations should be made on the basis of financial background of the student
Caste and creed can go and take the back seat. If you ask me, reservation should be based on the financial background of students and their family. The rules regarding ‘creamy and non creamy layer’ should be made stringent. Also, the documents should be well checked and made sure that no foul play is involved, that no financially well-off student manages to exploit the reservation quota!
I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.
I share articles related to courses, colleges, careers, exam tips and more here.
Surprisingly even merit based general category list contains OBC, SC and ST candidates because they are not counted in their respective reserved categories. A great injustice to students who do not belong to any of the reserved categories.