Democracy has to stand for, equality in terms of opportunity for education training, employment, and, business ventures, that is, complete access to every facility for development for every citizen with no discrimination of any kind, writes Prof. H C Pande
With the referendum round the corner, reservation rhetoric is raging all over. The other day, Rahul Gandhi has declared that if the Congress and I.N.D.I.A. come to power they will remove the limit of 50% reservation on the government jobs, so that proportionate representation in jobs can be assured. Seemingly noble sentiments but with ignoble purpose and injurious results.
To make up for centuries of neglect, due to a variety of reasons, the nation is in the need of massive efforts for the reconstruction of the economic and social infrastructure. The requirement of men and materiel is enormous but it has to be measured not just in quantity but in quality as well. The Marxian concept of quantity transformation into quality is inoperative in the,now, Knowledge Society.
Monarchy has become symbolic and soon enough, only four Kings would remain,those in a pack of cards. Democracy, the rule of the demos, is, by definition, the game of numbers. The magnitude of a number is increased tenfold every time a zero is put after it. Zeros ( in terms of political understanding),abound in the masses, the demos, and, their longest string decides the victor in a democracy. Here too the number in front of the string is decisive, and, that is, what outlines the basis of the knowledge society,the meritocracy.
Monarchy has had its day so has Oligarchy. The time has come when democratic functioning has to be understood in terms of meritocracy. Democracy has to stand for, equality in terms of opportunity for education training, employment, and, business ventures, that is, complete access to every facility for development for every citizen with no discrimination of any kind.
In addition measures have to be put in place to ensure that, handicaps ,whether, economic, or social or any other, do not stand in the way of utilising the opportunities available.
The chequered history of the country, with its ups and downs, periods of economic and social stagnation, and yet, continuing civilisation, has caused accumulation of mountains of disparities. These have to be removed at the earliest. Legislation can only decree it, not remove it as a ground reality. Right effort is needed at the right point by the right people available. This is the right way to right the wrongs, and, ensure that soon enough, across the social spectrum, right manpower would be at hand to do the right job in the right way.
No position in the society can belong to anyone by right, by being a member of a caste or a community or a club, it has to be the right ability and not the right connections.
The vast sections of the society languishing behind,in the matter of development ,by the twist of circumstances and no fault of their own,have to be brought forward,not by conferring on them a divine right to a post,but,by grooming them through rigorous
education and training process qualifying them to take up any post.
The statement of Rahul Gandhi may be politically correct but fundamentally wrong.
This Right is wrong.
(Prof. H C Pande is Vice Chancellor Emeritus , BITS, Mesra)
