Being a cabinet minister in India is fun. If you aren't the moralist and honest type, there is no limit to all the sweet things you can do. For one, you don't have to worry about any integrity at all, basically take some orders from your party bosses and just do your thing. These could include any number of populistic policies, any number of segregating rules and in general, plans to destroy all the great institutions of your country.
people like Arjun Singh, Shivraj Patil, Ambika Soni etc, all these people are known for nothing. Professionally, I dont know how accomplished they are in their professional life, but what i do know is they have been amply rewarded for being the trusted servants of the Gandhi household. Patil's the home minister, and the weakest ever there was. The naxals are blasting their way into central India, but he still prefers to call them our 'misguided youth'. The north-east is being run over by Bangladeshi's, but since they only add to the Congress vote bank, the more the merrier.
But this post is mainly about the other Singh in the Cabinet, Arjun Singh, the HRD Minister. Last week I talked about the quota system that he has hoped to re-implement in the country. The repercussions of his acts are many, and the one driving force behind these actions is certainly vote banks, the one factor that countless other politicians would sell their families to win.
Arjun Singh is facing a lot of flak for his efforts to push the bill, but heres my question: when we know that everything in the party happens upon the wishes of Sonia Gandhi, why arent no fingers being raised on her. Oh wait, I think its because we still havn't gotten over our awe and reverence for her supreme political sacrifice. Similarly, the Prime Minister is quiet on the issue as well. Although there have been reports of dissent coming from the National Education Council chaired by him, it seems certain that Congress hopes to play this Ace to see them through the upcoming assembly elections.
The country is still debating the unfolding drama but the general mood seems to be that Arjun Singh and his Congress party is full of shit. The only reason they need this is to secure the underprivelaged vote. The SC is on the case, so is the Election Commission. Academics and business leaders are critical, so lets bring this populist blunder down, and begin benefitting the target people in the right way.
EC puts Arjun in spot; Gen OBC can't fall under OBC quota: SC
The Election Commission today sought an explanation from Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh over his proposal for quotas to OBCs in Central educational institutions, IIMs and IITs when the poll process was on in five states.
Taking suo motu action, the Commission said the announcement made by Singh, as reported in the electronic and print media, "amounts to new concessions to certain sections of electorate" in the poll-bound states of Assam, TN, West Bengal, Kerala and Pondicherry, and is prima facie violation of the model code of conduct, EC sources said.
Meanwhile, Reaffirming its judgement on Mandal Commission case, the SC has held that a candidate from the Other Backward Class, selected in the general category, cannot be considered appointed under the OBC quota.
The UPSC had recommended names of 739 candidates for appointment to the posts of IAS, IFS and IPS in the year 1999. The names of two of the candidates were withheld and remaining 737 were to be appointed on one to one basis for different categories of candidates. Of these, 174 posts were reserved for the OBC candidates.
From general category, 36 OBC candidates qualified and were appointed on merit. Only 138 OBC candidates got jobs from the OBC quota and remaining 36 OBC candidates were not selected.
The court, however, noted in context with 36 vacancies reserved for OBC, that it ''was at a loss as to what had happened to those remaining services/posts after allocation of services to all the candidates in terms of their preferences. We say no more.'' Vacancies still exist even after allocation of posts to all the candidates.
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Now, beneficiaries say no to quota
The government says its proposal to increase reservations for the economically backward classes from 22 to 49.5 per cent will benefit the students. But the beneficiaries of the quota system themselves have reservations about the move.
"The cutoff in the IIT entrance exam for quota students is generally 10 while for the general category students it is around 30. If the quota is increased to 50 per cent, this cutoff mark will come down further and thus adversely affect the quality of education," says a quota student from IIT-Powai, Anil Kumar.
The students feel that it's not just about 'making it' to the premier institutes. Once the students are admitted into the institute, the toughest part begins - dealing with competition.
"Quota students are not able to do very well once they get into the IIT. They are not educated properly. They have not been coached well and so they have an inferiority complex," says another quota student, Rajiv Kumar.
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OBC quota: HRD, PMO fight turf war
The controversial proposal to increase reservation for backward classes in higher education institutes has now sparked off a tussle within the Union Government.
There seems to be a turf war between the HRD ministry and the Prime Minister's Office over the proposal. While the Cabinet Secretary's office has returned the draft bill, HRD Minister Arjun Singh is reported to have remained defiant.
The Election Commission is learnt to be unhappy with the HRD minister's reply to its show-cause notice, in which Singh denied the charge that he had prima facie violated the model of conduct for elections by announcing plans for reservation in elite educational institutions.
The Election Commission is now examining the follow-up steps in this regard.
Arjun Singh himself is believed to have written to the states asking them to speed up the process so that it may be ready for implementation for the 2006-7 academic session in state-level institutions.
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Beautiful lines, Camelpost. I must say the idea of RIITs and RIIM's is brilliantly sarcastic!
ReplyDeleteTragic state of affairs, and look at Sonia Gandhi playing all these dirty games, the resignations, et al, because I have no doubt in my mind that Arjun Singh has her total support in his 'initiative'.