Karnataka - Bidar   

Quota: Narayana Murthy criticised

Staff Correspondent

Mr. Murthy should understand that reservation is not anti-merit, says BSP leader

BIDAR: The Bahujan Samaj Party has criticised Infosys Chief Mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy's opposition to quotas to Other Backward Classes in higher education.

"Mr. Murthy was born in a middle class, upper caste family. He will never understand the sufferings of a person from a lower class background. He may be a genius in his field. However, he is ignorant of the social system in this country. He or any other person who has neither an understanding nor sympathy for the lower classes has no right to advise the Government on social issues," Vaijanath Suryavanshi, BSP State-unit general secretary, said in a release.

Caste system

"The infamous caste system in India brought unmerited suffering to millions for thousands of years. Human beings were, and still are, treated badly because of their caste," he said.

"Mr. Murthy should understand that reservation is not anti-merit. It is in one sense, a conscious attempt at enabling the equally merited to compete fairly," he said. "All attempts at providing money and other facilities to the deprived classes have failed.

`Best alternative'

"For example, the State-owned community development corporations for the SC/STs or the OBCs neither have enough money nor the mechanism to better the lot of their target groups. Reservation, therefore, is the easiest measure that the Government can think of," he said.

"Mr. Murthy's statement can be interpreted only in one way: If the Government drops quotas for the deprived classes, the upper classes, which constitute less than five percent of the population, will continue to enjoy all opportunities in the fields of education and employment," he said

"Prosperity of the few while the majority suffer in poverty is not development. We want equitable distribution of opportunities to prosper to everyone," the release added.

Reservation is the only practical solution to the caste system and it should continue as long as discrimination does, Mr. Suryavanshi said.

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