Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

A burning issue

The students of medical colleges have resumed their agitation against the Government's proposal to reserve 27 per cent of seats for OBCs in Central universities and institutes of higher learning, with the Indian Medical Association pitching in by giving a call for a day-long strike in the capital. The Government should reconsider its proposal. Those who seek admission to institutions of higher learning should have the ability to compete with others.

K.J. George,
Kanjirappally, Kerala

* * *

Reservation has appeared in a new avatar to haunt the country. Besides the fact that the move, if implemented, will divide society further, it will reserve virtually one out of every two seats on the basis of caste, irrespective of merit. It also means a student who does not belong to the backward castes will have to battle for fewer seats and obtain a much higher grade in the entrance examinations. In a debate that has generated such acrimony in the past and sharply divided India in the present, it is surprising that there is a large political consensus on the issue. Obviously, it is not the pros and cons of the decision but vote bank politics that is the foremost consideration.

Uday Moorty,
Noida, U.P.

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