Debate on the Reservation System prevalent today in Educational Institutions

On 20^th July 2013, a debate was conducted by the Department of Sociology, the topic being “The Reservation System prevalent today in Educational Institutions”. There were four students debating this topic, two of whom were for the motion and two, against. The topic demanded opinions on whether or not the current Reservation system in the Indian society should continue to function.

The major aspects which were covered by those going for the motion were mainly regarding how this system gave the backward classes a fair chance of competing with those who belonged to relatively wealthy families. The speakers went on to talk about the Indian society being a highly stratified one and how there was a requirement of making the economically poor, backward classes of our society aware of the rules, policies, etc. as relevant to reservation. However, they further went on to mention about the need to regulate the reservation policies which rose eyebrows in the audience as it was felt that this aspect of regulation did not justify the speaker’s stance of speaking for the topic.

On the other hand, those going against the topic, disagreeing with the above mentioned points put forth their views arguing that the people belonging to the General Quota were deprived of the seats due to the concept of reservation. The strongly believed that due to corruption, the creamy layer of the They dwelled on the history of reservation policy making a mention of the basic aim for which this system was formed in the first place. They further spoke about how the politicians took advantage of this system to gain more votes giving an example of Tamil Nadu where the percentage of reservation has gone upto 69%, their point being that the reservation should be proportionate to the population.

The audience also took active part and one of the points that emerged was that by encouraging reservation the backward classes in a way were further being marginalized, making them feel inferior. Another suggestion that came about was the idea of introducing reservation in schools and in primary phases of education rather than in higher education institutions like colleges and universities.

Suggestions were varied and in plenty but it was obvious that the current system needs to be improved upon.