When the forefathers of our constitution decreed that citizens falling under socially and educationally backward classes would be granted reservation and representation in education, employment and politics, they certainly did not anticipate the disadvantages that are now apparent, especially in the field of medicine.
Protests against the reservation of seats in medical colleges and institutions have been in the news for decades; however, little has been done to assess how reservation has upgraded or degraded the quality of medical treatment and research.
With the NEET UG and PG exams just around the corner, medical aspirants aiming for the coveted seats in medicine have yet another hurdle; scoring high enough to make it among the few students who obtain a medical seat for the completion of MBBS or MS course.
Aspirants belonging to the SC, ST and OBC communities definitely have it easier. Getting a hundred marks below the cutoff for the general category? No problem, as long as you make it within the cutoff in the reservation categories.
Often, the public does not realise the reservation system’s discrepancies and faults until they become the victims. And if a medical aspirant fails to get into a college even though he has scored much more than his SC counterpart, he is left to bemoan his fate because what is law is a law.
Furthermore, one is left to question whether someone who has a caste certificate truly belongs to the said caste or is posing to belong to a backward community as long as they get admission to a preferred medical college.
A medical professor who wished to be anonymous in this controversial debate questioned the validity of the caste certificate in reservation for admission in medical colleges.
“When parents of children allegedly belonging to backward communities can afford to pay lakhs of rupees to enrol their children in private coaching institutions, I truly fail to understand how they can belong to downtrodden sections of society”, he argued.
Also lies the fact that many families possessing caste certificates have incomes far crossing what can be called ‘economically weak’; however, when it comes to reservations in educational institutes, they are quick to produce their certificates.
Taking the example of our own state medical college, GMC, thousands of aspirants all over Goa and beyond every year prepare for the highly competitive NEET-UG and apparently more difficult NEET PG just for the much-desired seats. However, NEET UG aspirants students are thrown in for a loop when they realise that out of the 180 seats at GMC, excluding the reserved seats, only a disproportionate number of the seats are available for the general Goan public. This fact might seem unbelievable to most of us, and rightly so, because when the majority of the population falls under the general category and only about half of the total seats are under competition for all, it is doubtful that talented and deserving students are making it into our medical college. NEET is a mode of testing of all students to choose the most competent of the lot, but if students are given an edge based on their caste and social status, the exercise is futile.
The problem doesn’t end there. Hard work and painstaking dedication are required in the entire five years of study and more to be a capable doctor, not to mention the years of experience that follow. But when candidates who could not make it into the general cutoff are given admission just because they come under the reservation quota, one has to question whether doctors passing out are of the calibre essential to effectively cater to the patients of today’s times.
Numerous examples can be cited. It is often alleged that many doctors, especially those who got in medical colleges through reservation, do not have the ability and speciality to treat patients properly and often end up causing adverse effects in their patients.
Such complaints float their way across the public, with other’s experiences serving as guidance for new patients in choosing their future doctors.
As so it is the need of the moment to ascertain through proper rigorous study how reservation in seats in medical colleges is bringing forth good or ‘bad’ doctors.
As it is improbable that the system of reservation in India will be abolished anytime soon, a few more generations of students will continue to compete for the limited general seats, with the lucky few coming under the reservation quota.
With their eyes on vote banks rather than the goodwill of the people, politicians have come and gone, each time adding more and more benefits to the reserved sections of society, while the general public look on haplessly. While a select few give up their SC, ST and OBC certificates once they are empowered enough to make their mark upon society, most do not, and why would they? A person intellectual ability is influenced but little due to his socio-economic status. Since childhood, we hear inspiring stories of successful people who once studied under lampposts. Still, now when apparently ‘poor’ families with low-income certificates in one pocket and hefty salaries in the other come forward asking for reservations in educational institutions, it is not only unfair but a form of cheating that sadly becomes acceptable in many cases.
A student appearing for the NEET UG exam just a few days away expressed her frustrations with the system.
“My fellow classmates falling under the SC and ST categories are at the same level as me when it comes to all facilities and opportunities. In today’s world, the reservation system has almost become outdated”, she argues.
“Why only when it comes to admission in institutions do they have a special quota? Candidates must be selected based on their ability and intellectuality, not on their background”, she further stated.
After 75 years of independent India, the validity of the reservation for the ‘lower’ sections of society is something that needs to be thought on, because when our constitution advocates equality, each and everyone should be treated with equal fairness in opportunities in education at least, if not in various other areas like employment and politics.
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