Monday, June 20, 2005

Merit Matters

Recently, Shivam Vij reported on a fugitive Indian-origin doctor with the inviting moniker Doctor Death.

What piqued our interest was Shivam's use of this story to pour scorn over those favoring merit over reservations for education and jobs. Dilip chimed in by applauding Shivam for skewering the merit argument as it needs to be skewered. Wow!

Shivam's argument is that Dr. Death wasn't a beneficiary of reservations, yet he turned out incompetent. Hence, "merit" is a poor filter for admission to medical schools.

This argument clearly strains logic. However, we will concede that the converse -- of reservations leading to bad engineers & doctors -- is not valid either.

Reality is that most graduates from medical/engineering schools are alright, whether or not they arrived there using reservations. Furthermore, in real life, when people select a doctor, the only criterion they use is whether he/she can heal them. They couldn't care less how he/she got into a medical school. This is how a free market works, thankfully on merit.

The problem with reservations is a deeper one. It raises issues about how we organize our social order. Is entitlement our governing principle or is it competition? Which leads to success that's more gratifying?

We were thinking last night of an IIT classmate from a Rajasthani community entitled to reservations. This guy didn't need any. He ranked among the top students in a fiercely competitive class populated with very high JEE rankers. Another classmate, child of extreme & flaunted privilege, came in via reservations. He too emerged a fine engineer, but could anyone possibly consider his achievement (&, yes, merit) the same as the former's? That would be ridiculous.

Maybe we still need some reservations to ensure a level playing field. But, lets please not diminish the value of merit in life. Our Rajasthani friend understood merit well & he's the poster child for what social advancement is all about.

We're not afraid of doctors qualified via reservations, not merit. We are terrified of people who think this implies merit doesn't matter. It affirmatively does.

Update: Shivam points out that Reservations are more complex than you think (citing counseling experience at IIT Delhi of Dr. Shobna Sonpar). Two quick thoughts. One, the IIT Shobna Sonpar writes about is the time & place when this blogger was a student there -- clearly, our experiences were very different (although she likely has a privileged view given her role as counselor). Second, the issues she raises are not Dalit-centric as much as they are economic status-centric.

5 comments:

Primary Red said...

Will do. Thanks.

doubtinggaurav said...

While what shivam says appears to be reasonable, it has a fallacy.
He assumes that the group (for which it is intended)have the means to acquire the prerequisites.
For example in IIT's most of the SC's who get admitted are not poor or deprived of means but middle class just like us.
The reason is simple.To prepare for JEE you need a decent education and I dont think poor can even afford that.
So I will think that instead of providing reservations poor (dalit or otherwise) should be provided the means to compete.
Reservation doesn't serve much purpose except for short term political gains.

doubtinggaurav said...

Shivam,
I dont say that Dalits are not poor.What I am saying is Reservation is the abscence of education is useless.
I hope you will realise there is no use giving reservation in jobs, IITs etc. if you can not ensure that everyone has got primary education.
I admit that discrimination exists.
But reservation is surely a wrong remedy for it. Instead of bringing people into mainstream it alienates them, by creating a "us versus them" divide.
About SC's in IITs, from what I could ,they were as poor or as rich as other students.

doubtinggaurav said...

Precisely Shivam,
Reservation can not eliminate discrimination, neither can a "only for dalit" movement.
To eliminate discrimination a "all inclusive" social reform is needed.
Tamilnadu witnessed a social reform movement in the 50's unfortunately instead of being inclusive it was exclusive, as a result today while brahiminical predominance is reduced (atleast in politics), discrimination still exists.
Ironically, what Mandal had done is to change the nature of exploitation. Earlier just upper cast was guilty of it, but now even the OBC's (atleast those with affluence) indulge in this.

doubtinggaurav said...

Shivam,

Any action by coercion, however well intentioned it may be, never succeeds, or is it that you have forgotten how population control drive backfired due to what Sanjay Gandhi did.

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