IIT Madras has recently introduced a scheme to admit athletes by creating supernumerary seats for sports-persons at a cost of Rs 25 Crores.
According to the press release purpose of the program is to recognize and reward students who have excelled in sports and to encourage ‘deserving students’ to pursue higher education. Director, Prof V. Kamkoti says the initiative aims to send a message that young children are encouraged to play during their childhood.
A section of the media has gone to the extent of writing an editorial with the title ‘SEA of Opportunities’ and the tagline ‘By embracing and supporting athletic excellence, IIT–Madras sets a precedent for a more ‘inclusive’ definition of achievement.
Both the press release and the editorial are full of so many stupid, self-contradictory and potentially harmful assertions that an entire book can be written to demolish each statement in full. Let’s however confine ourselves, for the time being, to the quoted parts of the press release and the headline of the editorial.
First doubt that naturally arises is why for God’s sake it’s the responsibility of IIT Madras to recognize and reward sport-persons? Are they not supposed to focus on developing top notch engineers and technocrats who would not only do well for themselves and the organizations they work for but also bring good name for India’s talent and contribution towards the wellbeing of world?
There are designated Sports bodies and Ministries whose job it is to spot and nurture sporting talent and also look after the welfare of sportspersons. Collaborating with Sports bodies does not mean inviting engineers to participate in sports events or sportspersons to become engineers.
Prof Kamkoti hopes that his ‘great’ initiative will send out a message and encourage children to play in their childhood ! So parents hoping their children gain admission in a prestigious institute like IIT Madras should now start sending their wards to some Sports Academy instead of prestigious schools and Coaching Institutes !!
The editorial is awe-struck that IIT Madras has created a precedent for a more ‘inclusive’ definition of achievement ! Pray what is this ‘inclusive’ definition of achievement?
Achievement of a great cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar’s is his prowess with the cricket bat. Do we want or even care what other skills he may or may not have? What do we expect from a legendary boxer like Mike Tyson? Do we expect or even want him to teach quantum mechanics to a class of brilliant students?
The editorial speaks of a 75% score in Class XII exams. On paper, it looks respectable but the reality is that in today’s education system, nobody gives a second glance to students who have scored less than 90%. In prestigious colleges of Delhi, cut-off marks for General Category students go up to 99%.
Achieving excellence in any field requires ‘Total Dedication’. It is not and cannot be a side activity. Nobody can ride two horses simultaneously. We shall come back to this truism once more but let’s first see why a label of ‘supernumerary’ does not alter the underlying reality that it’s reservation only but with a new name and a backdoor entry viz Old wine in a new bottle !
It’s disingenuous to suggest or imply that somehow ‘supernumerary’ seats and admission on ‘special’ criteria do not impact majority students and the institute’s main body. There are politicians who vow to change the Constitution and get rid of 50% ceiling laid down by Supreme Court. Apparently there are smarter (and more crooked) politicians who know how to create new openings and push in more reservation without attracting adverse criticism or judicial challenge.
Sports Quota or any other quota such as Management quota invariably consumes a part of resources (money, people, time) which are always finite for any individual, organization or even a nation. Everyone has to prioritize. Nobody can have it all except in the short run. In the long run wrong policies lead to total disaster and doom without any doubt.
The amount set aside by IIT Madras could surely be used for improving the scope and depth of Engineering education and quality of students going out into real life and real work. Perhaps they could add more seats of which there is an insatiable demand.
It’s not merely a question of a small amount or a few supernumerary students. It’s the proverbial thin edge of a sword that will eventually strike at the heart of Merit and Excellence. Once a precedent has been established the malaise will quickly spread to other institutions without a shred of doubt.
Let’s take a quick view of how reservations work in practice and become dysfunctional in no time.Firstly what is so special about Sportspersons that they alone be given backdoor reservation in IIT Madras or any other prestigious academic institute? Why not singers, actors, dancers or any other artists, historians, journalists….. (Not to forget politicians’ children)? Even if we accept that other reservations already in place seek to redress some social discrimination of past how do sportspersons qualify for such affirmative action?
Let’s reverse this reservation of sportspersons in a prestigious academic institute to demonstrate how ridiculous the concept is. Shall we push for reservation of brilliant engineers in the Indian Cricket Team for the sake of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? Picking an argument from the editorial one can forcefully suggest that engineers bring an approach of rationality, observation, experimentation etc which can benefit cricketers. Will this argument be bought by anyone in his right senses? Obviously not. There is an old saying – what is good for the goose is good for gander. As a corollary with incontrovertible logic we can definitely say that what is not good for the goose is certainly not good for the gander.
Let engineers study engineering and let sportspersons concentrate on sports. The editorial cites a series of suicides as being further justification for sports quota. How daft a person can be? If high stress level amongst students is a problem there are other ways to deal with it which may include professional counselling, occasional time out for non-academic activities which may include sports etc but it’s impossible to fathom how admission of students from Sports Quota helps in lowering the stress of other less privileged students?
Once you admit students who are not at the same intellectual level there will be pressure to lower the standards and declare them Pass. If this is not a dilution of academic excellence pray tell me what it is?
Going further, the prognosis is even more dangerous. Today we have a few sportspersons who have actually achieved something in their chosen field. Next year there will be demand to increase the number of seats and lower the criteria to those who participated in the tournaments to but failed to win any medals.
Next there will be demand to ‘accommodate local sportspersons on the basis of ‘Sons of Soil’ argument. Their argument will be ‘Why the poor locals should be denied the benefit? They did participate in school games but they were too poor to finance their ambition at district, state, national, international levels. This is unfair and we shall not take this lying down blah blah and more blah.
Hope readers get the drift. Once you let the genie out you cannot put it back in the bottle ever again until the entire edifice comes crashing down.
Misplaced and wrongly directed ‘Affirmative Action Policies’ metamorphose in no time into ‘Muscular Assertive Claims’ by beneficiary groups for privileged treatment in perpetuity.
In India merit has been all but buried in the name of social justice and we have the disheartening spectre of numerous groups competing to acquire the ‘Backward’ tag. Complementary skills of brilliant individuals in diverse fields have given way to fight for entitlement. What it will do in the long run can be seen from the track record and history of failed societies.
In the West a more sophisticated version of reservations has taken roots in the name of Diversity Inclusion and Equity, often referred to in short as DEI. Proponents of DEI who are cheering the move of IIT Madras singing paens in the glory of DEI hail Diversity as a great virtue in itself with no side effects. Truth is not as sweet.
Diversity can be good only and only if there is a common thread of values upheld by all. Mismanaged and Inorganic diversity thrust upon a group as small as a classroom or as large as a nation breeds mistrust, chaos and even violence as it is playing out in many European countries.
In fact there already is more than sufficient diversity amongst students who qualify through a common entrance test. This happens because no single group, small or big has a monopoly over talent or brains. In IITs and IIMs you will find students from all regions North or South, East or West. You see the same scattering of talent in the composition of a cricket team. Common thread in both settings is a strong desire to excel in the chosen field and to pay the price through dedication and labour of love.
Net result of reservations over a period of time is decay of the institutions and a decline in their prestige. In USA relentless push for such dilution of academic standards in the name of DEI has come to such a pass that graduates of even hallowed institutes like Harvard are now finding it difficult to land a suitable job, opting for lower jobs in desperation. Simple reason is that prospective employers no longer find the talent and skills adequate. Within India too we hear that as many as 30% graduates failed to find a job. Given the harsh reality of market place one can only shake one’s head in disbelief at the talks of innovation through fusion of special inductees and regular students.
In USA there is a push back from employers and government alike. In India ‘Reservation’ has become a holy cow and anybody questioning the rationale or the method of implementation is immediately attacked as an enemy of disadvantaged groups.
Sooner or later we will have to face the reality and acknowledge that ‘Reservations’ are nothing but a powerful slayer of Merit. It doesn’t happen overnight but bit by bit foundation pillars are whittled away leading to collapse of society, widespread chaos and misery.
Reservations do not seek to create ‘equal opportunity’ but ‘equal outcome’ which is an impossibility. Ultimate form of this ideology is Communism and the fate of such societies is nothing but total economic and social collapse. Surviving communist nations have totalitarian governments that brazenly deploy capitalist tools such as Market Economy.
All talks of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity are pure bunkum and political in nature to capture resources and power. The goose of Merit and Talent that lays golden eggs struggles for some time and then collapses.
Pious proclamation of such ‘privileged’ students that they work extra hard to manage both studies and sports is pure hogwash. In order to excel in any field and reach the top one has to give it one’s all. There are no half measures. A lady once gushed over the skill of a great violinist and said ‘I would give my life to play like that!’ The violinist smiled and said ‘I did’.
God has given different talents to individuals. No two stones even are identical in Nature. Single minded pursuit of excellence in accordance with one’s innate inclination and talent is the only right path. Any other attempt can only lead to mediocrity and a society that does not recognize and applaud total devotion to and pursuit of excellence in one’s chosen field is doomed to decay and plunge into downfall.
Bhagvad Gita says pursuit of Swa-Dharm, one’s innate constitution is best.
Let the mandarins of IIT Madras not be under any delusion that they are wiser than Lord Krishna Himself.
