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February
20, 2009
IITs IIMs and Reservations
IITs and IIMs are not above board, in their working teaching
selection and appointments. Their caste
biases in appointments show up, the hatred and prejudices of the brahmanic authorities in
promotions are also seen very often. Otherwise,
they can not justify the abysmal negligible presence of STs&SCs,
Minorities and MBCs appointed to various Faculty
Positions, and taking PhDs.
IITs and IIMs, we should bear in our minds, can never claim to be
above Constitution. Hence they have to
abide by the Constitution, and Constitutional
Provisions Guaranteeing the SCs&STs their due
Shares in Govts, Governance, Participation in
Administration and Decision Making, Nation’s Wealth, Benefits of Nation’s
Growth, and Opportunities of National Development and Growth including
Education.
IITs and IIMs, everyone must remember, have been established funded
and managed with cash flow from the National Exchequer; and function with Tax
Payers Money, including that Paid by all the poor SCs&STs,
when they buy the paltry Salt and Soap.
The Directors of IITs and IIMs
can not eat, and live comfortably today on the money provided by the SCs&STs, and still refuse to admit teach help pass and
employ anyone from the hundreds of millions of SCs&STs. All Institutions established managed and
administered out of Public Funds, can not refuse ever admissions and entry to
anyone, and must be assessable not on paper but in real terms to everyone
including SCs&STs. The proof of the pudding is in eating
it. And so the Equal Opportunities for
the SCs&STs in Free India must be seen in real
life, and in the Number of SCs&STs actually
present in the IITs and IIMs,
at anytime in different areas of studies and working, and actually must be
benefiting from the IITs and IIMs.
That the State can not deny entry
of anyone into Govt Institutions, has been well settled long long ago, when the brahmins, brahmin teachers, brahmin parents
and many of the brahmin students tried to block the
admission of a SC Boy into a School in the then Bombay Presidency. All their threats of resignations, withdrawal
from and boycott of Schools, did not prove to be
successful before the then British Authorities and Govts
in the Country and in
IITs and IIMs, can never claim the right to provide Technical and
Scientific Education, Superior in Quality as they claim, to only the children,
wards of dominant caste hindus, that too with public
Govt Funds, while pushing all poor helpless marginalised STs&SCs
Minorities and MBCs, to other State and Union
Territory or University Run, or poorly managed private Engineering Colleges and
Management Institutions that lack, even basic infrastructures and facilities.
In any case these IITs and IIMs are in no way very
special, as they could neither produce so far any Noble Prize winning Teachers
Scholars or PhDs, nor any International Award winning Researchers. Self Promotions and Claims of Superiority,
only because of their Huge Campuses taken from many poor farmers, Big Buildings
built by poor SCs&STs, MBCs
and Minorities, Massive Govt Funds, some new Infrastructures, can not block and
should not shutout SCs&STs or anyone else, that
too in the third millennium also.
Democracy World-Over is still a
Dream and ongoing Struggle. But, we can
not allow our great Democratic Institutions like the Parliament, to be buried
alive. That too the Rajya
Sabha, be distorted or hoodwinked and taken for a
ride, to get a skewed decision, as had happened on the afternoon of the very
last day of Parliament Sitting, on Tuesday the 23rd December
2008. And that was the last day of the
last Parliamentary Session. That too
only in the afternoon, when most members were not present, had already left for
their constituencies and home. And when it is well-known even otherwise, to everyone that most of
the MPs, don’t come to Parliament in the afternoons, after taking their lunch. Taking advantage of the situation, the Govt
had sneaked in, a very crucially Important Bill – Bill No LXXIV of 2008 on The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (
Reservation in Posts and Services ) Bill 2008. The Bill, having a great bearing on the SCs&STs, must have been referred by the Govt to the –
1.
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, dealing with SCs amongst others,
2.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs in-charge of Tribal Affairs,
3.
Ministry of Human Resources Development that is in-charge of Education,
and
4.
the Ministry of Law.
It should have also been shown to
the National SCs Commission, and the National STs Commission, both charged with the Constitutional
Responsibility and mandate of Protecting and taking Care of the Interests
Development and Welfare of the SCs and STs respectively.
This Bill bearing the name of Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of
State in Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in Ministry of
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, was reportedly piloted by default by
Nrayanswamy, Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs in the Rajya Sabha
at 3.03 pm, and was passed too casually in just two minutes. The house had not gone in detail, through the
various Provisions of such an Important Bill of concern to more than 260
million plus SCs&STs, Clause by Clause. Otherwise, the Bill could not have mustered
Strength, and Passed by Rajya Sabha,
in present form. It is also reported
that, there were hardly any SC&ST MPs present and voting for the Bill, and
in fact there was no Quorum in the House.
Yet the Bill was passed, with anti-SC&ST Provisions of Clause 4, on
Page 2 – No Reservations in certain cases.
Particularly the most dangerous are, the Sub-Clause 4. (1) (iii) and Sub-Clause 4. (1) (iv)
both of which state – there shall be No
Reservation where appointments are made,
iii)
to posts higher than the lowest grade of Group A Posts and classified as
scientific or technical posts; and
iv)
to posts higher than the lowest grade of Group A Posts in institutions
of national importance and Indian Institutes of Management
v)
specified in the Schedule.
The Page 6 indicates, The Schedule
of Clause (iv) of the Sub-Section (1) of Section
4. And it includes many
So much for the Education of SCs&STs, and actual Human Resource Development amongst
the SCs&STs in the Country, real Social Justice
to SCs&STs and their Empowerment. The SCs&STs are
being treated, even now as the Scum of the Earth. How can this be accepted in the twenty-first
century?
Even the other Provisions are
dangerous, for not providing for Reservations to the SCs&STs
in Appointments under –
i)
the Sub-Clause 4. (1) (i) for a period of less than forty-five days, and then
ii)
in the Sub-Clause 4.(1) (ii) work charged
posts required for any emergency relief-work.
The Govt saying it so specifically
in the Bill is against SCs&STs, is against the Letter and Spirit of the Constitution.
The two Provisions have always
been misused by many clerks assistants supervisors and officials in the
Field-Offices, HQ Offices, Departments and Ministries, to deny Appointments to SCs&STs and bring in their own caste and community
people through these backdoors, extend their services in piecemeal and then
regularise them without any representation of SCs&STs. Even otherwise, denied of Appointments at
such lowly positions, how can the SCs&STs acquire
skills and gain experience for better employment elsewhere?
Yes, if SCs&STs
are not allowed to get even any casual Employment, how will they get
experiences required for Regular Jobs?
And wherefrom will SCs&STs come, when the
Services of the Short-Term Casual and Temporary Employees are extended from
time to time for short intervals, and ultimately Regularised and Absorbed by
the Govt Offices, as had happened in the Railways P&T Defence etc at
times? Yet none, including the SCs&STs appear to be interested in them, and their
Appointments. Is this because these
employments are at the lowly casual/ temporary labourers level, that No One including
the SC&ST Students Scholars expecting to get into higher Class I Services,
and all other Employed Individuals are not interested in the poor People at the
bottom about them?
So much for the Human Rights, the
Human Resource Development of the SCs&STs, Social
Justice to SCs&STs, and their Employment as well
as Empowerment in Country. That too at the beginning of the Third Millennium.
In view
of all the above, it is absolutely necessary to delete lock stock and barrel,
Section 4 of the Bill in Toto. In place,
The Bill should Provide as Section 4,
Reservations –
Reservations for SCs&STs must be provided in all Appointments, made
either by Direct Recruitment or any form of Selections and Promotions, where
Discretions are exercised by the Officials and other Authorities, and could
become Subjective with the influence of Deliberate or Unconscious Biases, and
also the traditional Prejudices can creep-in.
The
following Line No 13, in Section 6, also included in The Bill, as a Provision
below the Sub-Section (2) must be deleted –
Provided that no such
appointment shall be made for promotion by non-selection.
Similarly, the following Line in The
Bill in Section 9, included as a Provision below Sub-Section (1) must be
deleted –
Provided that no such appointment
shall be made where the candidate is found unfit to hold the post.
This Provision has to
be deleted, as it will more than often be misused always and everywhere
deliberately, to deny Appointments and Reject most SC&ST Candidates, even
otherwise Qualified and much better than the General non-SC&ST Candidates.
The Section 9, Sub-Section (2) Line 29 must be amended
by Adding the Words, ‘whether reserved or not for the SCs&STs’
after existing words ‘to a post’ so that, the Line reads as –
The experience required
for appointment by direct recruitment to a post, whether reserved or not for the SCs&STs,
may be
In the Section 14, after the Sub-Section (2) Line 26,
a Line or a Sub-Section (3) must be added so that it reads as –
The appointing authority
or any other officer authorised by him or her, shall make available such
documents and records for inspection, furnish such information, and render such
assistance, as may be necessary, to the Representatives of SCs&STs
Employees to see and satisfy themselves that the Recruitments, Promotions,
Appointments and Postings have been made fairly, without any biases prejudices
and distortions or manipulations or suppression of facts.
In the Section 21, after Clause (e) of Sub-Section (2)
a Clause (f) must be added, stating that –
any notification in the
Official Gazette by the Central Govt, amending adding or making changes to
include or delete the Provisions of this Act, shall be binding on all Govt
Ministries Departments Offices etc, overriding any provisions to the Contrary
to any of the Rules Instructions Guidelines in any of the Manuals, Recruitment
Rules, and Service Rules that may be in existence, or be brought forward in
future.
To
overcome and prevent the Passing of such Bills, with dangerous provisions
silently included therein, it is suggested that –
1.
No Bill be Passed by any of the Houses, when there is No Quorum,
2.
No Bill be Passed by any of the Houses on Fridays, and on the Last
Working Day of any Session of the Parliament,
3.
No Bill be Passed by any of the Houses, on the same day when it was
taken up for final discussion and voting,
As
regards the Bills concerning SCs&STs, they should
be Passed by any of the Houses of Parliament –
Affairs in-charge of Tribal Affairs,
If now for any Reason, Govt does
not want to make such of these Changes in The Bill, we SCs&STs
must be allowed to have Separate and Exclusive IITs IIMs etc. They
should be established all over the Country at par with the existing IITs IIMs etc, and be named as Ambedkar Institutes of Technology, Ambedkar
Institutes of Medical Sciences, Ambedkar
Institutes of Management etc. For, the
Public Funds being made use of all these existing NITs
IITs IIMs etc, is too enormous to be forgotten and let go by us
ever. The Education of Hundreds of
Millions of SCs&STs, Minorities, MBCs & OBCs is too serious a
matter to be left only in the hands of the Educationists and the
Administrators. The Budget Provisions
for the Plan and Non-Plan Expenditure in Crores of
Rupees for these NITs IITs IIMs etc, as could be seen from Govt Accounts and
Parliament Records are as below –
All the Figures here,
are in Crores of Rupees
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2007-08 Budget 2007-08 Revised 2008-09 Budget
Sl No Institution Plan Non Plan Plan Non
Plan Plan Non Plan
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. IITs 230.6 88.4 97.77 118.58 283.38 127.05
2. NITs 160.48 46.62 55.18 63.65 195.53 66.97
3. IIMs
20.6 8.2 11.01 10.21
21.29 6.53
4. IISC B’lore 39.2 17.43 9.68 20.81 31.46 22.02
5. National 125.6 121.48
The Budget Provisions for the Year
2007-08 and the Revised Provisions based on the Actuals
and Trends, clearly show how inefficient these IITs, NITs, IIMs, IISC Bangalore are in
even executing, their own existing Planned Functions. They could hardly make use of their own Plan
Budgets, though they have been merrily allowed to burst by large margins their
Non-Plan Budget Provisions, which actually is a very dangerous trend and is
against all basic Financial Disciplines.
All the Directors must be severely hauled up on both the Counts and
disciplined severely. Since they have
been repeatedly failing every year to a large extent and by a big margin, and
all the Balance Funds must be Provided for Parallel
Education of poor SCs&STs through the appropriate
Ambedkar Institutions of Equal Standards, if not
better than these NITs IITs
IIMs etc. Only
when SCs&STs with Skilled Hands and big Work
Experiences, rooted in the Grass Roots right from the Rural Village Levels in
Most Backward and difficult inaccessible areas, can there be any realistic
inputs and challenging tasks before the NITs IITs IISc IIMs
etc. Otherwise, the Teachers and
Scholars will only be Parroting and Vomiting or Copying Academic Developments
and Research in the Western Universities.
By: N. Manohara
Prasad
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