Business Ethics: Reservation in Education Individual Assignment

BUSINESS ETHICS
RESERVATION IN EDUCATION
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
Submitted To: Prof. Bindi Mehta

Submitted By: Deeptanshu K Kashyap
Roll Number: 201414
Section: D
INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, NIRMA UNIVERSITY

MBA-FT (2020-22)
Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2
Debate ................................................................................................................... 3
Arguments ............................................................................................................. 4
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 5
References: ............................................................................................................ 6
1
Introduction
According to the noted professor and author, Marc Galanter (1984), reservation is
justified when:
1. By finding a gap between the proportion of the concerned social category
in general population and its proportion in employment and education.
2. Concerned population has to be identified as “backward”.
This definition provided by Galanter is, in essence, how the reservation policy in
India is shaped and put into our constitution. Article 16(4) of the constitution
allows reservations for any "backward class of citizens which in the opinion of the
state is not adequately represented in the services under the state".
It is also referred to as Affirmative action to ensure representation of

underrepresented sects of the society.
But the reservation system in India is a highly debated issue and it has been so
since its inception, especially because it dictates the percentage wise quotas for
admission in higher education institutes in the country and then further in the
highly sought after government jobs.
2
Debate
From the four papers used for the preparation of this assignment two are polar
opposites of each other. In fact “THAKUR, SAI. 'Representation' of OBCs in Higher
Education: A Response.”, is a direct rebuttal to the paper “Academic Performance
of OBC Students in Universities: Findings from Three States.” by GOYAL, JAYA, and
D P SINGH.
Different factions have contrasting opinion on the reservation policies described

in our constitution. Some question the effectiveness of the implementation of
policies whereas there are also those who question the entire existence of a
reservation policy that is based on caste. Debates and discourses on India’s
reservation policy on education almost always have a political flair to them.
Political parties have reservation on their agenda.
There is also a school of thought which says that affirmative action for the under
privileged and underrepresented should no longer be done on the basis of caste
and the historical exclusion of certain castes which were deemed to be lower on
the society. The 21st century has its own challenges and new policies should be
formed to bring the underrepresented to the mainstream.
3
Arguments
Fig. (1) and Fig. (2) Given below show two ways of looking at similar statistics and
drawing two vastly different conclusions.
The first statistic shows the current proportion of different groups at graduate
level and above. In other words it gives a picture of only the present generation in
universities. The second figure also shows us the same parameters of Population
share, proportion of population of various socio-economic groups but for all
generations past and present. This gives a clearer picture of the gap in the higher
education for almost all reserved categories.
Some also are of the opinion that under representation in higher education
institutes has more to do with the quality of and the accessibility to elementary
and secondary education.
There is also arguments about the one way nature of inclusion of new castes in
the reservation policy. There is a provision for exclusion of castes which according
to periodic government studies have become represented in education and
employment in proportion to their population. But till date 300 castes have been
included but exclusion of castes that have ceased to be backward has not
happened till date.
4
Conclusion
After deeply analyzing the problem, the contents of the paper under discussion
and keeping an open, unbiased mind to understand both sides of the argument
objectively I have come to the following conclusion.
Reservation on the face provides various promises to solve the problems of the
backward communities and provide opportunities for upliftment, but it ends up
handicapping them. Very low percentage of the deserving population ends up
availing the benefits reservation and they further fail to represent their
communities and further their cause.
Also, ironically caste is a feudal institution, which has to be destroyed if India is to
progress, but reservations further entrenches it. It always creates a doubt in the
minds of the society and the minds of the person of his/her capability and if he is
deserving of what he has achieved.
Reservation at further stages of life aims at equality of outcome instead of
equality of opportunity and in the long run trying to achieve equality of outcome
is very detrimental for any modern society.
In conclusion reservation as a system is not capable enough to solve the deep
rooted problems, alternate solutions should be explored to provide equal
opportunity to all individuals of all backgrounds and eradicate the effects of the
heinous caste based oppression.
5
References:
1. GOYAL, JAYA, and D P SINGH. “Academic Performance of OBC Students in

Universities: Findings from Three States.” Economic and Political Weekly,
vol. 49, no. 5, 2014, pp. 55–62. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24479148.
Accessed 6 Oct. 2020.
2. TELTUMBDE, ANAND. “One More Reservation.” Economic and Political

Weekly, vol. 45, no. 14, 2010, pp. 13–15. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/25664297. Accessed 6 Oct. 2020.
3. THAKUR, SAI. “'Representation' of OBCs in Higher Education: A Response.”

Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 49, no. 22, 2014, pp. 152–155. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/24479650. Accessed 6 Oct. 2020.
4. Malish, C. M., and P. V. Ilavarasan. “Higher Education, Reservation and

Scheduled Castes: Exploring Institutional Habitus of Professional
Engineering Colleges in Kerala.” Higher Education, vol. 72, no. 5, 2016, pp.
603–617. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26447566. Accessed 6 Oct. 2020.

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BUSINESS ETHICS

Submitted To: Prof. Bindi Mehta

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, NIRMA UNIVERSITY

It is also referred to as Affirmative action to ensure representation of

Different factions have contrasting opinion on the reservation policies described

1. GOYAL, JAYA, and D P SINGH. “Academic Performance of OBC Students in

2. TELTUMBDE, ANAND. “One More Reservation.” Economic and Political

3. THAKUR, SAI. “'Representation' of OBCs in Higher Education: A Response.”

4. Malish, C. M., and P. V. Ilavarasan. “Higher Education, Reservation and

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