Acceptance of Reservations is Negation of Merit.

We agree that merit should not be compromised. But basically, the underlying definition of merit implied in this debate is very narrow. The marks achieved in 12th examination or in various entrance tests are considered as indicators of merit by the anti-reservationists.

The concept of merit is more substantial than this. The 12th examinations essentially test the capacity of reproducing in the examinations, information acquired through books, coaching classes and lectures delivered in the colleges. At the most such examinations can test the skill of reading, memorizing and writing. Skills of thinking, analyzing, decision making, perseverance and diligence are never tested in these exams. Many skills which are essential in the professional fields of medicine, engineering and management can not be gauged through such exams.

Secondly, although it seems that in these examinations all are judged on a uniform scale, in reality there remains a wide gap in terms of access to educational and academic resources. On the one hand we have state government and municipal schools in rural and urban areas respectively and on the other hand we have private schools, missionary convent schools. There are some students who can not at all afford coaching classes or who can only afford ordinary coaching classes and there are other students who go to coaching classes which charge exorbitant fees and provide the best of facilities. On the one hand we have illiterate or poorly educated parents and on the other hand we have highly educated parents who can ably guide their children. Thus students come from unequal backgrounds. The merit of students who get unequal facilities is judged against a uniform scale by our examination system.

In spite of this, the difference between the merit list of students from backward classes and students from open category is of hardly one or two marks. So if we add points for studying in face of such odds, the marks scored by backward students would be much higher than what they actually get.

The current mode of judging merit, then, is insensitive towards the merit of students from backward classes. It does not display the real merit.

Thirdly, since the medium of instruction is English, the examination is more an assessment of skills in reading and writing English. Therefore the upper caste students, who have had exposure to speaking in English at home, prove to be better performers. Dr. Parthasarathy, a professor in IIT Bombay, has mentioned in an interview that if the examinations are conducted in vernacular language students in perform well in the IIT entrance.

The present examination system and the system to measure merit are thus flawed, incompetent and incapable of measuring the diverse skills of students from backward classes. This system is best suited for upper castes that have had a monopoly over textual knowledge for thousands of years.

The brahmanical order in India was never really concerned about real knowledge and merit. So they could never understand the importance of knowledge created by numerous professional artisans who themselves manually toiled. By putting barriers on knowledge acquisition, they enforced a system which refused to accommodate the knowledge created through the work experience and technical skills of bahujan samaj. As a result piles of texts full of trash were created in abundance. But development of substantial knowledge and of science and technology never took place in our country. The merit of bahujansamaj was thus purposefully rotted away.

Therefore reservations are a scientific solution for the hurdles that are in the way of merit of students from backward classes. These hurdles are nothing else but social inequalities and the monopoly of upper castes.