By Our Reporter
Shillong: Referring to the policy of Positive Discrimination as leading to uneven development as it impacts negatively on the non-reserved categories, leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Conrad Sangma said reservation is being perceived by them as being socially unjust.
Sangma was addressing the gathering at the two-day UGC sponsored Workshop on “Positive Discrimination” organized by the Women’s College at its premises here on Friday.
“The reservation policy in India is a much-debated topic as the policy favors certian categories against others who are equally economically disadvantaged,” Sangma observed.
The Opposition Leader further pointed out that this policy which had been followed for a very long time will not only haunt the present generation but also the future generation. “The reservation policy has been in place for 67 years but has it benefited the target population?” Sangma asked adding that it is time to conduct a study to assess whether the policy has had its intended impact.
Sangma stated that not all tribals are poor or uneducated, so there is need for a mechanism where only those at the economic fringe come under reservation.
Meanwhile, he also stated that reservation of seats for women in the Panchayat is perhaps a good move, but adequate studies have not been carried out to assess if political reservation has benefited the women folk.
The LO also said he disagreed with those who propose job reservations in the private sector because it goes against the principle of a free market. “What worries me is the proposal to reserve seats on the basis of religion. This will make more and more people demand reservation,” Sangma said.
Asking the young audience not to depend on reservation he said, “Reservation makes us slack while competition promotes excellence. What happens if in the years to come we have no reservation? It is time we started making voluntary contribution towards the government so that we too become stakeholders in development,” Sangma exhorted.
Keynote Speaker Prof LS Gassah, Dean School of Social Sciences NEHU said reservation is a debt paid by the dominant group to the historically deprived group. Gassah said reservation has had only marginal impact and helped the urban educated elite while the backward tribe and castes in the villages continue to languish in poverty and illiteracy.