Padma Prakash: Remarkable dissonance

MOON POINT

Whatever be your take on the anti-reservation issue, there is no escaping the fact that the matter has triggered an unprecedented upheaval among young people. Not only were middle class students out on the streets, but they""the tech and medical students""are conducting and participating in a plethora of discussion on sociological concerns about equity and rights, the dynamics and compulsions of democracy, the concept of merit and the meaning of the vote. These matters have never been on youth agendas and may well lead in time to a transformation of attitudes and historically entrenched behaviour. There is no denying the fact, that there is a certain desperation among all sections of the young. It has to do with the growing numbers of qualified, socially disadvantaged youth wanting greater opportunities, and of the creamy layers of society trying to retain hold of existing perks.

There is some rightness in this confrontation taking place and it is happenstance that an ill-conceived and poorly planned decision should have been the prompt. As a result, professionals and students are turning the spotlight inward and examining social compositions within professions. Sections of the medical community are looking at hierarchies and networks and the relative progress of different social groups within the profession. And sensitive groups in the media are examining the structures and conditions that give rise to biases and discrimination in the reporting and portrayal of events and of the social compositions within media organisations.

The introspection has not yet turned to the incoherence and inconsistencies in affirmative action policies: Are policy outcomes in one area being sustained and supported by policies in other sectors? Does the understanding prompting the fresh decisions on reservation and quotas, that is, to provide compensation for a historical and continuing deprivation, inform other sectors as well?

The unevenness of policy incorporations to accommodate the deprived is glaringly evident. For instance, while we are mandating quotas for the socially and economically backward at levels of higher education, large-scale displacements due to, for instance, the river projects are actually making education inaccessible to large populations of the young. What is the schooling status of the huge numbers that are displaced by large development projects year after year? While compensatory deals are being worked out, does anyone pay attention to the fact that thousands of youngsters, already socially and economically backward, are also being deliberately deprived of schooling and educational opportunities? While central government institutions and some states have minuscule quotas for the project-affected, these can be accessed only by the very few who make the grade.

Everywhere, as a consequence of urban development, or infrastructure or industrial projects, thousands are being displaced, and among them are a huge number of children whose access to education is being taken away for a variety of reasons. In Mumbai, a study of the social and economic impact of a resettlement project (Uprooted homes, Uprooted Lives by Qudsiya Contractor, Neha Madhiwalla and Meena Gopal) shows that the move has particularly affected those among older school-goers. New settlements may have some access to primary schools, but there is no secondary school close-by. While girls are primarily affected, so are the boys in this age group. Resettlement has meant that the older income earners, mostly in the informal sector, have lost their jobs. So, older children have to pitch in. Boys seek odd jobs in the informal sector and girls take on housekeeping tasks while mothers struggle to keep their old jobs in the now distant places. Interestingly, the majority of girls in the school-going age in this community attended school in their old locations. Girls' education in state-aided schools and colleges up to the secondary level is free in Maharashtra. There is great interest in the community to make use of these opportunities provided by the state. But with the physical access to schools shrinking in the resettlement project these concessions are wasted. This isn't the story of one community, but finds echoes in every urban centre that is undergoing rapid growth.

While one arm of the government is trying to extend access and increase opportunities to the deprived at one level, another is taking it away. This dissonance needs to be urgently addressed and resolved.

Let us look at another kind of educational deprivation. Why is it that the TIFR can barely fill its post-graduate seats through an entrance test that takes nothing else""caste or economic backgrounds or even undergraduate grades""into consideration? This is equally true of post-graduate seats in all the natural science departments in many universities. Clearly, there is much to be done in the field of content development, pedagogic structures and evaluation methods at the undergraduate levels. This is equally true of the liberal arts streams. Very little has been invested in the development of "non-professional" undergraduate education. Isn't this educational deprivation for all those who struggle to make this grade, including those from the socially, economically and historically backward sections?

If education, at the primary, secondary and higher levels, has to be made accessible to all, there is much more to be done than defining admission quotas. Seat reservations at institutions of higher learning, based on multiple criteria, are important, but can only effectively realise their objectives if there is comprehensive commitment and a policy to broaden the base of those who seek these reserved seats and aim to excel in their fields.