Editor,
Reservation today is on the basis of the category of ST/SC/OBC EWS. If we want to look for backwardness and under-privileged sections through careful study we will find them among all tribes/ethnic groups. We cannot justify that one tribe is more advanced than the other. Through careful study we will find pockets of anomalies and contradictions within each tribe. A Scheduled Tribe is a Scheduled Tribe since backwardness and being under-privileged are relative terms not an absolute quantity or characteristic.
Backwardness and being underprivileged in a particular group is not because of lack of Reservation. It is the lack of ability on the part of that group to access and utilise the benefits of Reservations and also the failure of the elected leaders who represent such underprivileged sections.
Backwardness and being underprivileged cannot be addressed by job reservation. Economic backwardness and being underprivileged can be solved through economic policies and their implementation/interventions. If backwardness and being under-privileged is the criteria for Reservation, then it should also apply to those sections who are underprivileged within a Tribe or Group which has been considered advanced.
Looking at the 8 C&RD Blocks of East Khasi Hills, Mawkynrew Block is the most underprivileged Block at par with any underprivileged areas in Garo Hills. If Reservation is for applying Distributive Justice and enabling the weak, then it should be fair.
If we use the ‘degree of backwardness/deprivation’ between tribes, (let’s say one tribe is more backward than the other in terms of the ‘degree’ allocated values), then we also need to take into account the ‘degree of influence’ of the size of that population (also growth rate, dynamics)’ that it will contribute to the ‘degree of backwardness and deprivation’ of a particular tribe in the short or long term.
If we consider ‘the point of deprivation’ as suggested by some we first have to define ‘deprivation from what/of what;’ ‘deprivation by whom;’ ‘categories/degrees of deprivation;’ the reasons for deprivation because deprivation has multiple factors with different degrees of influence, and these influences are nor absolute but relative. If we consider all these, we will find deprivation nearly everywhere. A case in point: travel about 25 km radius from Shillong you will find cases of deprivations of different shades and hues. You might even find acute deprivations.
Only experts on socio-economics, population dynamics will be able to give their advice and perspective on this.
When it comes to Reservation, we also need to recognise the needs of the State Machinery; A Machine runs best with efficient, functional, productive elements. Meritocracy is crucial and beneficial. Emotions and shoddy egalitarian sentiments will drag the State backwards. Hence the need for specific and fine-tuned job allocation. If we aim for the so-called 10-billion-dollar economy, we also require an effective, productive, efficient bureaucracy.
In conclusion, can someone give a theoretical or real-world example on how a government job helps to eradicate backwardness? If a government job can eradicate ‘backwardness and ‘deprivation,’ then any person from any tribe can do that, because it is a prerequisite factor for that job. My family came from a village, where many who hail from that village are in well-placed jobs (private and public). But the village has remained the same for years. Only recently we got road connectivity.
Yours etc.,
Ubahunlang Dkhar Tmar,
Via email
On false alarms
Editor,
When I was in class IV, I read an interesting story about a man becoming critically ill after he had a wrong notion of consuming something that was stuck in his stomach. Doctors could not convince him, even with all sorts of medical test reports, that his apprehension was not correct. Then, the doctors decided to stage a false surgery on that person. Interestingly, the person felt better and relieved after the fake surgical procedure. At the time, I thought that it was just a story. It was too much to believe for a child that sometimes fear itself is to be feared and not its cause. Later, I came to know about ‘placebo’ or ‘sham’ surgery. It is a fake surgery that a doctor sometimes has to stage-manage to eliminate unreasonable fear from the minds of the patients.
A recent overseas study says that an almond-sized structure called the amygdala that controls fear and is located deep in the brain is slightly larger in people with conservative ideologies than in liberals. It plays a critical role in processing fear, threats, and uncertainty. It needs to be investigated whether even fear-mongering on the basis of some fake information can make the amygdala grow out of proportion.
However, Nazi Germany has shown that a propaganda machine can successfully trigger phobia among people. It is highly dangerous to pamper any kind of phobia, be it anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. It is, therefore, necessary to counter with facts and figures the false narrative doing the rounds that Hindus will become a minority in India in a few years if population growth among Muslims is not checked. The people must know that this fear is based on wrong notions.
The main factor in population growth is the total fertility rate (TFR). A TFR of 2.1 is known as the replacement rate. Only when the TFR is greater than 2.1, the population in a given area will increase, and when it is less than 2.1, the population in a given area will eventually decrease.
The Pew Research Centre, Washington DC, published a study in June 2021, which was based on India’s census reports and the National Family Health Survey. The study says that the religious composition of India’s population since Partition has remained largely stable, with both Hindus and Muslims showing not only a marked decline but also a convergence in fertility rates.
It shows that Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have a high total fertility rate of 3.4 and 2.7, respectively, in contrast to a low TFR of 1.7 and 1.6 in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, respectively. Whereas the fertility rate of Hindus has come down to 2.1, and that of Muslims has declined to 2.6.
Even a cursory glance at the last 2011 population census reveals startling facts. Hindus are 82.69% and Muslims only 16.87% in Bihar. The population in Bihar is rapidly increasing with a high growth rate of 1.3 (3.4 – 2.1). On the other hand, the population in Kerala has rapidly been decreasing with a negative growth of minus 0.5 (1.6 – 2.1). Interestingly, Kerala has a relatively high percentage of Muslim population, which stands at 26.56%.
Despite the fact that the main difference in fertility rate lies in the region and not in religion, even educated people still believe that Hindus are in danger. Some people cannot move away from their bubble of beliefs, even after facts are revealed that give a completely different picture. Is it because of the abnormal growth in the amygdala from childhood by hearing false information?
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata
Misleading factual errors
Editor,
The opinion column, “India govt should be forced to stop arms supplies to Israel” by P Sudhir (ST Oct 5, 2024) is problematic. I read to look for the opinion of the writer and he does give his opinion. However, he begins with a factual error. He states that October 7 marks a year since Israeli aggression on Gaza. Israel’s attacks on Gaza began on October 8, 2023. The attacks were in response to the killing of about 1200 soldiers, old men, women, children by Hamas militants. Many of these were civilians shot or even stabbed, some in their homes and many young people who were in an open air music festival. These attacks occurred at several locations along the Israeli-Gaza border. More than 200 people ranging from young children to old men and women were captured and taken hostage to Gaza.
The author, P Sudhir left out the events which led to the retaliatory action by Israel from October 8, 2023. By leaving the first facts he presented a picture which is not truthful.
Yours etc.,
Barkos Warjri,
Via email