A majority of people have a wrong understanding of the reservation policy, though every caste has been getting its benefits, opined Justice H.N. Nagamohan Das, retired judge of Karnataka High Court.
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He was delivering a talk on Reservation and Social Justice in Hassan on Sunday. The Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes have got a total of 50% of reservations in government jobs. And, the poor people among the upper castes also have 10% reservation. “Every caste has been covered under this policy. But, many are under the wrong impression that only SC and ST people get the benefit of the reservation policy,” he said.
Often people would object if a person from a Backward Class gets a medical seat or an engineering seat through the reservation policy. But, they would not find it problematic if a candidate from an affluent family purchased a seat. “The younger generation has many questions about the reservation policy. They often asked me about its necessity during my interactions with them. Hence, I wrote a book on the reservation, in which I have attempted to clarify confusion on the issue,” he said.
Further, he commented that the reservation policy had been losing value fast due to the advent of privatization. At present, 98% of the jobs were being created in the private sector, where there had been no reservation. The remaining 2% of jobs are in the government sector. Of them, only 1% is reserved for SC, ST and OBC groups, which account for 72% of the total population. “The reservation can only be a temporary solution. The people among the downtrodden sections have to come out of their inferiority complex and dream big. They have to give importance to the education of their children,” he said.
Poet Rupa Hassan, CPM district secretary Dharmesh, Dalit Sangharsha Samiti leaders H.K. Sandesh, S.N. Mallappa, Somashekhar, Madiga Dandora Horata Samiti president Vijay Kumar, Dalit Hakkugala Samiti district convener M.G. Pruthvi and others were present in the programme.