Reservation

The government stand on 'Reservation' has been on the news the past weeks. No points for guessing that I have my reservations on the need for reservation - in principle. Reservation is a long standing issue and has been hotly debated 'for' and 'against' over and over. While I am all for debate and consensus, the unilateral decision by politicians without much consultation of academics/ students/ industry leaders, solely for the purpose of winning support of a large faction of people is untenable. Almost undemocratic. Protests have been on ever since Mr.Arjun Singh suggested his new reservation policy and it is my personal feeling that Presidential intervention is necessary - given that our President was an academic himself and is wired on the response of the student community. In this regard, I am pleased to note that a petition has been submitted to Dr.Kalam with 1.7 Lakh signatories. This, just from the 'United Student' front. Imagine the opposition for the policy. All we can hope for is that public opinion in this matter is heeded by the top brass and failing that, the President has some authority to bring it to a referendum.