Here is an interesting article published in Central Chronicle, Bhopal dated Oct. 2, 2006. The article titled “Towards mindless disaster: Reservations in Higher education” is written by Ms. Poonam I Kaushish. She is a veteran free-lance writer having written articles of national importance in leading national newspapers and magazines. Her style of writing is amazing.
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20061002/0210301.htm
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Towards mindless disaster: Reservations in higher education
“Old, time-honoured traditions still dominate life in Oxford University town, built over 200 years ago. It has a total of 17,000 students from all over the world, making it a melting pot of education of the finest young brains. Manmohan Singh, Tony Blair, Bill and Hillary Clinton are all from Oxford. But imagine if they had a Moily. Oxford would have gone down the London tube faster than the terror blasts. In other words, Moily's argument does not cut ice. If a student has merit, OBC or not, none can deny him education.
The doors of good education have never closed on merit and have, indeed, always been open to merit. Former President K.R. Narayanan was poor but he made it to the LSE and not only earned for himself a name but had Prime Minister Nehru hand pick him for India's Foreign Service. So is President Abdul Kalam, a poor fisherman's son. The difference is that in India we treat these cases as an exception; at Oxford and the LSE they are the rule. Have merit, will play.
At the LSE, 1 out of 12 applicants get admission since the standards are truly taxing. Interestingly, as the Dean of Graduate Studies told me: "If a student does not make it in the first attempt, then the second time round he is eliminated in the preliminary stage itself. Simply put, first or nothing. In the midst of sprawling London, it is very unlike Oxford. “
(Chronicle adds: We have started a section called chronicle extra. It will publish articles, views, essays, news not connected with IT-BHU community. All articles are selected at random, which may be of interest to our readers. All views expressed are those of author.)