‘Is it unfair,’ questioned Sathyam spiritedly, ‘to expect the qualified from the scheduled casts to fend for themselves?’
‘Should the government wash off its hands,’ continued Raja Rao, ‘after doling out some sops here and providing a few props there, won’t that amount to a half measure? It has to support them at every stage until their faculties are developed, needing no more crutches. If others feel aggrieved about that, it only amounts to grieving over the recompense to the unfortunates while themselves enjoying the benefits of a more fortunate birth. Not that I can’t understand the individual inequities these reservations bring about, but for the greater social good, we’ve got to put up with these aberrations. After all, it’s these reserved positions that enable them to hold their head high in the social milieu which had spurned them all along.’
‘But for how long,’ said Sathyam, ‘and that too when they tend to misuse the opportunities?’
‘Perhaps, you’ve answered that yourself,’ said Raja Rao. ‘Hasn’t the society ostracized them physically and suppressed them morally for centuries, thereby sinking their collective consciousness into a morass. Knowing well what it takes to regain one’s self-confidence after a reverse or two, would it be difficult to envisage what it takes for the so-called SCs and STs to start believing in themselves? Do you honestly believe that the climate today is conducive to their emotional integration with the social mainstream? It’s surprising why we fail to put ourselves in their sectarian shoes, knowing that birth is a chancy proposition, after all.’
‘But where’s the need for the second-generation reservations?’ questioned Sathyam.
‘For that, let’s consider the affects of the withdrawal syndrome,’ explained Raja Rao. ‘As can be expected, some won’t make the grade and go back to square one. That would only dent the community confidence besides demoralizing the affected individuals. The key to their ennoblement lies in the caste confidence brought about by individual enrichment. It should be realized that those mandatory ministerial berths and the quota of secretaries would only help buttress their communal self-worth. Maybe, to better their lot, their general welfare is to be addressed while their community should be helped to build its economic base through tiny enterprise.’
‘In spite of being the most favored,’ Sathyam was critical, ‘won’t they still desert our religion?’
‘That’s the irony of the Hindu society,’ said Raja Rao sadly. ‘So long as they’re in our fold, we have nothing to do with them, but when they change their faith in frustration, we blame it upon them! What’s the use of gloating over our great religion, when we fail to make them feel at home even in our Gods’ abodes? Why we never give them cause to believe that Hinduism is their religion, do we?’