1. An interesting hearing is going on in the apex court challenging the Maratha reservations in the state of Maharashtra that will take total reservation above 50 percent. During the hearing on Thursday, 25 March 2021, Justice Ashok Bhushan said that all reservations may go and only EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) may remain. “You may be right. This may be a beginning. All reservations may go and only EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) may remain. But these are policy matters,” Bhushan said after Advocate Shriram P Pingle contended that caste-based reservations were being politicised.
Pingle told the bench that “the elephant that needs to be addressed in the room is caste”. The Indra Sawhney judgement, he said, recognised caste as a ground for extending reservations but the endeavour needs to be made to remove caste-based reservations in a phased manner. To this, the bench said these “thoughts” were “very radical and good” but it was for the government to take a decision that caste and reservation should go. “That is for Parliament and the legislature. It is a welcome idea…When the Constitution was enacted, the object was a caste-less, egalitarian society,” said Justice Bhushan. (https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/maratha-quota-hearing-supreme-court-reserves-order-says-all-reservations-may-go-but-up-to-govts-to-decide/2220856/).
Further, Pingle said the Mandal Commission list was used to include caste which did not exist in the state. After the Indra Sawhney judgment, he said, more than 100 castes were included. He said over-reservation was anti-reservation and added that the current case had a larger magnitude on the social life of the country, it may be appropriate to consider all the pending cases and take a holistic view.
We think that all political parties must think and discuss how far we have to take the reservation. Today’s India is different from what it was 30 years back. The reservation issue is holding us back. WE are already quite back in terms of quality research and engineering. To fulfill Make in India, Made in India we have to throw out such shackles that have been holding us. PM Modi needs to call all political parties and discuss this issue. The SC has clearly told that such matters are to be dealt politically despite merit in the petitioners case. It is time the political class of the country come up with strong will power and remove this last hurdle from the country’s development path and process.
2. Second Issue that we wish to take is about the elections in various states. PM Modi has also articulated the need for combined elections. Considering the time each political party has to spend on electoral process at the cost of parliamentary debates and discussions besides other crucial works IN our opinion such issues need o be debated more frequently and some alternate model need to evolve so that the country stops wasting her time on state elections though it is fundamental to any democracy .
3. The third and most important issue is reforms in the Police department. The Mumbai saga has proved how the police politician nexus is destroying law and order situation as well as credibility of the police system in the country. Many Ex IPS officers have also spoken about the same and they know more than any of us. Therefore the department merits urgent attention of the government and needs to be reformed at priority level. (https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/meeran-chadha-borwankar-mumbai-police-mansukh-hiran-ambani-security-scare-case-7238782/?utm_source=Taboola_Recirculation&utm_medium=RC&utm_campaign=IE).
4. The fourth issue is about promoting merit in the selection of key positions. While it is true that every government needs people who can follow her dictacts and not make nuisance we believe that if good people are selected then it will prove to be more beneficial. The selection of People like Anil Saharabudhe as Chairman AICTE is a case in point who is destroying the higher education system in the country with a team that is more corrupt and visionless. After Niti Aayoga member VK Saraswat and PSA Vijayraghavan has spoken against the AICTE order , former AICTE Chairman has also come up against the same. (https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/aicte-compulsory-subjects-maths-physics-new-rule-engineering-admission-7245400/). Then there is the selection of Directors to various IITs and IIMs which have become very dubious. Anyone with connection at the right place can become a director or VC these days. WE Indians have become so soul less and visonless that we are forgetting that such actions will backfire ( or already are) and the system is getting really sub standard. Despite the publicity stunts adopted by some IIT Directors the ground situation remains poor and the country cannot grow unless a merit based system is adopted for the positions of Directors and VCs.
Dr Asheesh Shah
Samanvaya.
