Supreme Court8217;s reservations

Whether the colleges have enough teaching and infrastructural facilities or not, the doctors such institutions churn out in thehundreds every year are treated at par with those who gained admission through the dint of hard work. They have as much right to treat patients as those who pass out of prestigious institutions like the AIIMS, New Delhi, and CMC, Vellore.

Yet neither the government nor the judiciary has asked itself whether such colleges and their practices are in the national interest8217;. In fact, the efforts of the then Janata Government in Karnataka to rein in such private colleges met with stiff resistance from the judiciary. In its judgment, the High Court expressed the opinion that 8220;no parent or guardian came forward to support the government8217;s order or to contend that the fee charged is an extortion and that it is not paid voluntarily!8221;

However, the bogey of 8220;national interest8221; has been raised by the Supreme Court when it struck down last week an Uttar Pradesh Act, which reduced the minimum qualifying marks for reserved category candidates for admission to postgraduate medical courses from 35 per cent to 20 percent. Also struck down was a similar MP Government order lowering such minimum qualifying marks. The court declared: 8220;At the level of admission to the super speciality courses, no special provision is permissible, they being contrary to national interest. Merit alone can be the basis of selection.8221;

That the 4:1 majority judgment conforms to the apex court8217;s decisions on reservation down the years only means that the court is still guided by its misplaced sense of merit. It is too basic to argue that merit is relative.

It is unfair to treat people belonging to castes, which have suffered centuries of oppression, in the same manner as those who never faced any discrimination and therefore suffer no social or educational backwardness. Considering the disadvantages like poverty, malnutrition, poor health and a proper cultural atmosphere to which an overwhelming majority of the weaker castes are subject, only exceptional individuals could expect to compete successfully against those who belong to powerfulcastes.

There is, as yet, no foolproof method by which merit that takes into account courage, honesty and integrity, apart from the usual ability to learn by rote can be tested and determined. Besides, merit is a purchasable commodity as is underscored by the thriving medical and engineering coaching institutes spread all over the country. It was in recognition of this stark reality that the provision for reservation was made in the Constitution for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and now for the Other Backward Classes under the Mandal formula.

Reservation in admission to medical colleges has always evoked the sharpest reaction. By far the worst of a number of violent incidents surrounding access to medical education was the Gujarat riot of 1981. It would be worthwhile to recall that the riot was sparked by the failure of an upper caste student to gain admission to a postgraduate course in pathology, allegedly because the one available seat was reserved for someone from the Scheduled Caste. The riotthat lasted 78 days killed tens of people.

What angered the five Ps 8212; the Police, the Press, the Patels, the Pocket money and Political Parties 8212; as they were derisively called, was the government8217;s decision to provide 5 per cent reservation for the OBCs in medical admission. Despite the reservation, a study revealed at that time, the SC/ST representation in state medical colleges was a paltry 3 per cent, ie, of the 737 posts, the reserved categories accounted for just 24 posts.

Yet it did not prevent upper caste students and professionals like teachers and lawyers to organise one of the more violent agitations the region has witnessed. This was not surprising because the dominant castes have a tendency to exaggerate the cost to society of reservation because they fear that in the long term their position would be undermined. The well-orchestrated campaign against Mandal was a case in point. The controversy that was sought to be raised over President K.R. Narayanan8217;s gentle suggestion to the ChiefJustice of India on giving equity due weightage in the selection of judges showed the kind of resistance any such move can evoke in the name of merit and competence.

It is indeed doubtful whether the representation the Untouchables8217; and others get in medical and engineering courses would have been possible but for the state8217;s affirmative action. The enormity of the disadvantageous condition of the Untouchables8217; could be gauged from the fact that in UP, till 1980, not one of the seven medical colleges had admitted an Untouchable8217; student. If today over 20 per cent of medical students in the country belong to the reserved category it is purely because of reservation.

However, their representation in the postgraduate courses is paltry and all attempts to break the barrier has evoked resistance as in Gujarat. Today, the MBBS degree is not considered sufficient for a good lucrative practice with the result that the ambition of every medical student is to go in for postgraduate degrees. The increasingspecialisation in medicine is another motivating factor.

By denying reservation to them at the postgraduate stage, the court has put a limit on the career growth of the reserved category amounting to negative discrimination. The fear that lowering the minimum qualifying marks will result in the dilution of standards overlooks the fact that in Tamil Nadu where reservation was introduced even before Independence, the gap between the marks required to get into the reserved and the general categories in medical colleges has considerably narrowed.

Thus to invoke national interest to deny reservation is unjustified. And to come back to the skeleton story, it was a startling discovery that the price of an imported skeleton in Delhi is Rs 1.5 lakh and a local one around Rs 70,000.