Even Stephens: College quota, a minor issue?

QUOTA UNQUOTE: The panel debates if the standards set by St Stephen's will take a hit.

            

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However, Albeena Shakil disagreed and vouched for the rights of minorities. “In India, minorities enjoy only one right – to build their own educational institutions and administer them. Today, when Christians are coming under attack from all quarters, it’s okay to give them 50 per cent reservation,” she said.

Shakil also said the argument about merit being diluted was a prejudiced argument. She cited the example of southern states where minority institutes have quota up to 59-60 per cent and they are better educationally and fare better on the Human Development Index.

Shakil also said JNU too had a similar record. She wrapped up her argument on a rather strong point. “Quota will make educational institutes better.”

Guha responded to Shakil’s argument and said in southern states, backward castes formed a majority of the population and so it was natural for them to be featured prominently on toppers’ list. “Christians are 2 pc of population, only elite Christians get the benefits and Dalit Christians are not recognised by the government. So St Stephen’s is again going against the Constitution,” he said countering Narain’s earlier argument.

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An emotionally charged Guha also said T F Andrews, the founder of St Stephen’s ethos, will be “turning in his grave” at the “narrow communalism by those who run the college today”.

So is the St Stephen’s pro-quota lobby inadvertently strengthening the hand of majority chauvinists? Narain disagreed and put the onus on the media which, she alleged, was encouraging the Hindu Right where most of the backlash came from.

Shakil also took on Guha and said since St Stephen’s was a government-funded institute, it adhered to all UGC norms regarding teachers and syllabus. “Therefore, unlike other minority institutes that are not aided, St Stephen’s will stick to its quality,” she argued.

In fact, Shakil’s argument gains credit because there are no statistics to show that minority institutes or institutes implementing quota showed a decline in standards. Guha retorted, citing the example of Jamia Milia which had a world-class mass communication centre with representation from across communities without going the whole hog (50 per cent).

Hoever, he seemed to have forgot that even Jamia has a 25 pc reservation for admission to the Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC).

Bedi returned to the debate and made an interesting point. “The reservation issue has been decided by Supreme Court and by debates in Parliament. Let’s admit that we owe the Christian community for their schools and colleges and if they now choose to help members of their community in this competitive world, I see no harm in it,” he said, adding it was St Stephen’s responsibility to assure secularism as well.

Narain too agreed a balance needed to be maintained. “50 pc is okay but if you increase it, there’ll be a dis-balance. I am not for the ghettoisation of Christian community either because it will be counter productive,” she said. The prof also warned the right to free speech and expression also get hampered if the rights of minorities are misused to promote totalitarian systems.

So are quotas the only way to create rational, sensitive individuals? Guha insisted there had to be a balance in numbers. “Jamia reserves 25 per cent for Muslims – who are 50 per cent of the population – it’s just twice their number. St Stephen’s wants 50 per cent quota for two per cent of the population which is 25 times their number and that’s what is unfair,” he said.

However, none of the other panelists agreed with Guha and said he was making a flawed argument. The debate remained open ended with most among the panel – except Guha – approving of the college’s decision.

Final results of Web/SMS poll:

QOTD: Will quotas destroy elite educational institutions?

Yes: 89 per cent

No: 11 per cent