Dr Umesh Kumar Sharma

On Convocation Day at Kathmandu University Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai asked graduates to stay in the country and work for the Nepalese people and nation and promised to provide the opportunity to work. But a look at the newspapers the same day said something else: There were a few job vacancies and that too were only for those that the prime minister's party considers marginalized. Hence, the assurance given to the graduates was false even though most of them want to work in the country. Unfortunately, after a certain interval of frustrating search for the jobs, many of the new graduates will be compelled to start the process to migrate or knock on the doors of companies supplying human resources to the Middle East or other countries that take Nepali workers. In essence vacancies with quotas for the certain racial groups and political influence in appointments or “bhagbandas“ is depriving a majority of qualified graduates from poor socioeconomic groups from having a chance of being employed at home.

Recently Varun Gandhi, member of parliament (MP) of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in India said reservations in jobs for the schedule castes/tribes should be done away with as it was against the interests of the general public and in violation of the justice of the deserving, adding there should be no compromising on efficiency, particularly in crucial jobs. Such type of statements by political leaders is rare given their need to speak to the vote banks.

Opponents object quotas because they believe they favor one group at the expense of another, irrespective of grade point averages or test scores. They argue that using quotas displaces individuals that would normally be favored based on their individual achievements. Opponents of racial quotas believe that qualifications should be the only factor determining who is selected in competitive situations.

In the Nepali context, there is no doubt that efforts should be made to empower the socially and economically deprived people. But quotas in promotion are not the answer. Quotas and “political bhagbandas“ threaten to disrupt the harmony in many government departments and non-government organizations and can severely compromise efficiency. Implementing quo tas in promotion is nothing but the mad rush of opportunistic politicians and their parties to garner votes or to attract the members of groups that benefit from quotas to their parties. This isn't to say traditionally disadvantaged groups don't require greater representation in the higher echelons of the bureaucracy, but the approach needs to be more selective and started at the bottom. For example, if you want to get more doctors from underrepresented groups education infrastructure to produce them needs to be prioritized. Education is an area where social disparities impact the economic prospects of the under-privileged who lack easy access to opportunities and resources for academic quests, vocational training, learning aids, etc. Therefore, reservations cannot fix the social-mix across occupations that require certain competence (it could in some areas) but what can is support aiming to empower the needy.

There are certain citizens or leaders who take pride in calling themselves “backward“. “Reservation ought to be given on the basis of worth not merely on the basis of birth,“ is what Mahatma Gandhi said about the subject. In any country where professional and accountable governance practices are prevalent, reservation policies should be aimed at mainstreaming the disadvantaged groups in society over a fixed number of years. This is particularly important for Nepal where policies are made for political expediency rather than effective implementation to resolve a given problem.

Equal opportunity is a situation where all people should be treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers and prejudices, opening the chances for advancement to everybody interested to compete within the framework established rules. The selection process cannot be based on arbitrary or irrelevant criteria such as religion, skin color or facial appearances, but should rather emphasize “individ ual abilities and ambition“, as Martin Luther King Jr said in his famous “I have a dream“ speech. He had hoped his four children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by content of their character. In the 1980 book “Free to Choose“ Rose Friedman explained that equality of opportunity was not something to be interpreted literally since some children are born blind while others are born sighted and that its real meaning is a career open to the talents. This means that there should be “no arbitrary obstacles“ such as birth, nationality, color, religion, sex or any other irrelevant. The ideal of a society in which people do not suffer disadvantage from discrimination on grounds of supposed race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation is widely upheld as desirable in itself.

Healthy and stable political system of the country and leaders with vision only can address such vital issues. Now the responsibility is on the shoulder of the youths to identify the leaders of such kind, although it is very difficult, who can lead the country to right direction.

Published on: 6 March 2013 |The Himalayan Times