The Real “Equality” Nobody Is Talking About
We all seek EQUALITY — but is it TRULY what we DESIRE?
Let’s rethink the above statement with this analogy-
“By the Principle of EQUALITY-a rich man with a monthly income of 1 Million must be taxed the same as a person making 10 grand a month. Now, you would say this is not fair, but this is EQUALITY in its TRUE SENSE(this is what equality means in its literal sense).”
Thus, we don’t seek EQUALITY; what we truly seek is EQUITY(not the equity a person gets in return for his investment in a Business or Firm). For those still having less idea, read this to get the difference between the two.
Having cleared the base that is required for this blog, comes the part; the reason I explained that(so the coming part of the blog makes some sense in the proper and inoffensive way).
I recently checked online the fee structure of some institutes around India(as I am an Indian, so I searched mainly about my own country), and I found a few things. Firstly, around 49% of seats in institutes have reservations for SCs and STs. Secondly, the fee that they have to pay. When the Constitution of India was formed, Ambedkar was the one who put the provision for reservation in our Constitution. Initially, this was kept for 10 years, which was actually very logical and apt. However, after 10 years, it was extended for an unspecified time, which still continues.
THE POINT I AM MAKING
I do not have any problem with reservations, but the problem that I have is what happens after that.
Firstly, there is an additive bonus that the students of the SC and ST categories have — they require very few marks to qualify for the seat, for which a general student must score twice, sometimes even thrice as much.
So, if you have an advantage over the general category students who are actually eligible and competent for that seat, I believe there should be a reversed fee structure.
Since you have got the grace in marks, the fee for an SC/ST STUDENT SHOULD BE MORE, while the STUDENT who came through the OPEN CATEGORY must PAY LESS.
Only in this way would we have equity; otherwise, it is complete pressure on the open category with no relaxation(and as direct as it may sound, this is something true).
The open category student first has to fight in fierce competition, and once he has emerged as the competent one, he/she still does not get any advantage or return for the hard work they have put in.
Meanwhile, the ones who had to put in relatively less effort and had an easy way through (if offensive, then it must be, for this is the bitter truth), not only get the perk of easily getting into the institute, but they also have to pay less for the same seat.
CONCLUSION
The key/motto for bringing reservation was to MAKE IT FAIR for the less privileged people — not to MAKE IT UNFAIR for the Open Category.
I would say, that if the reservation cannot be removed from our Constitution, or any amendments cannot be made to make it fair for the open category.
I would suggest two things:
- If reservations cannot be removed, then the students belonging to SC/ST must pay a higher fee while the student who got into the institute based on pure merit must pay a lower fee(since his/her acceptance is purely based on competency, while the latter had the privilege of reservation-based acceptance).
- And if an SC/ST student belongs to some sort of economically weaker section (EWS) — i.e., the family’s annual income is less than 8 lakhs, then they must have some fee redemption.
The crux is —
One’s privilege should not become a hardship for others who have worked extremely hard for it.
So yes, with this, the Blog has come to an end, will catch you all back with the Next Blog-till then, Keep Learning, and Keep Growing😄
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