By Saumya Kumar:
We have heard so much about the Vyapam scam that I don’t think it is important to waste space on this institutionalized system of corruption any more. Instead let me bring you to a different avenue of corruption better known as UP’s Vyapam. Very recently, the newspapers in Uttar Pradesh were splattered with the news about the recruitment of PCS exam in UP, where out of the 76 OBC castes in UP, 56 people of the same caste were selected for 86 OBC seats, for the position of SDM. This particular caste allegedly has a special association with the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh and secured more than 50% of the OBC seats while it constitutes 9% of the population in UP. I guess congratulations are in order, for the smartest community in Uttar Pradesh. Oh yes, for being the smartest community for sending the right people to the right position. I have no association with any of the exams mentioned above but being a young person, struggling in the once fertile and flourishing doabs of Ganga, I am compelled to bring up some points before this news evaporates from the public memory.
The introduction of the Mandal Commission was a great blow but a few years down the line, we accepted to the reality of reservations. We even brought back the Congress to power in 1980, with no assurance that we will ever live to see the end of reservations.
I never had any faith in the political dynamites of this country but somehow had immense faith on the Supreme Court, and was content with the fact that whatever be the political logjam, the reservation scheme in India will not be implemented in an unfair manner. Today I humbly accept my mistake in underestimating the competence of the political parties of this country. The allegations against the UP Government and the UPPSC which is now popularly called UP’s Vyapam is a classic act of circumventing and fooling the Supreme Court, and the numerous people belonging to the OBC category who do not belong to the particular community in question. I can say that for the first time I am simply impressed by the efficiency and brilliance of the Government in creating a cocoon for one community within the reserved seats for 76 backward communities in Uttar Pradesh.
Over a period of time, our system will digest this travesty and we will all compromise with this reservation within reservation. Till our short term memory can retain this tamasha, I would like to put in my two rupees worth opinion before the UP government. They enter the public office with such impressive promises that the wisest of us get confounded sometimes. Take your seat, enjoy your king like lifestyles, create traffic jams but do not cause misery to the life of a meritorious student to secure your vote-bank for the next election. For you it might have been a political move but for some economically weak meritorious student, it could have been the only chance for employment. This country may have tweaked the Mandal Commission for political gains, but the reservations were implemented with the objective of social and economic upliftment of backward communities. This incident in Uttar Pradesh is just another act for political gain but with greater ramifications as it has started the debate of which caste is considered superior to others. We have moved to a phase of caste system in our country where merit and caliber are the usual casualties.
I believe in giving credit where it’s due, therefore I must say that this closed door reservation within reservation is a ‘brilliant‘ move. You see, now even the slightly meritorious student of any caste, general, SC, ST or OBC, with no association with this preferred community will leave the State. Eventually, the working population in the State will consist of people only from the preferred community. With similar political nudges by the government, I am sure very soon we will have the UP Government for, by and of one community. The community which will vote for only one party would be left and consequentially this government will be in power till eternity. Perfect plan to create an eternal government in UP.