It was very heartening to find the young so very sane and appropriate in their reaction to the simplistic, age-old, predictable albeit failed way of dealing with ?reservations? for the less privileged. The generational divide was explicit. Arjun Singh, balancing his slow movement with the assistance of his walking stick, made me feel I was back in my teens. Listening to the young respond gave me hope that, in my dotage, India will most surely deal with the realities of disparity in an intelligent and creative manner. The change in methodology will happen. There was not one comment that was disparaging, crude or selfish. It was a distinct change from the hyped-up responses of my generation caught in similar controversies and Arjun Singh appears stuck in that time warp.
This generation was talking about the need for affirmative action but not at the cost of excellence. Perpetuating negative caste polarization is no longer acceptable to most. If the government wants to fight a battle for the ?lower castes? (it kills me to use the expression), it should ensure that water is accessible from the same well to all human beings across India.
To do this, most politicians and administrators will have to get their own families to accept that all are equal. That is where the problem lies. Therefore, it is easier for them to use this populist rhetoric to inflict this kind of mindless policy on India. They know no other way.
Young in power
Our leaders and propagators of policy have not managed to cleanse their own minds of this kind of prejudice, denying the people true social equality. That is why Bharat is where it is. A generational shift will probably trigger the beginning of the transformation. The prime minister too is alleged to have suggested that private sector companies should employ people on the basis of caste. What else does ?reservation? mean today? To handle the problem in this manner only confirms the absence of fresh and innovative thinking that has led to the ?symbolic? redressal of this disparity. It is so typical of India and its intellectually incompetent policymakers.
If Manmohan Singh would induct the under-45-year-old elected Congressmen and women into his cabinet as deputy ministers and ask them to study the ministry and its mandate, create an unencumbered blueprint for the reform of the present situation, deal with these younger people directly to ensure that they are not stymied by their insecure superiors, he may well get some new and radical ideas for growth, development, and change that would be compatible with this new millennium. Yes, the ministers of state and cabinet ministers would feel threatened if they are not fit for the positions they hold, but so what! An exercise such as this should be encouraged to prepare the fundamentals to enable the passing on of the baton. Only then and then alone will real change have a chance to break through the rusted steel frame. This ?tinkering? about when placing ministers and bureaucrats, never considering the larger issues nor the expertise of the person being placed, compels us to stand still.
Of course, there is the oft-mouthed reason for keeping the infirm in office and forcing the young, at their prime, to rot with frustration. The young do not have the experience is what we are told. They will falter. They need guidance. They do not. They need to be thrown into the deep end and they will swim with a little help from their uncles and aunties! How come the young in the private sector have done extraordinarily well? They have the same two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth. The difference is that in the public sector, the political and administrative sector, the mandate is to keep the status quo and themselves in power. In the private realm there is competition and the best wins. One lives on the dole and the other works to grow.
