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June 12, 2006

with Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate

Karan Thapar: Hello and welcome to Devil's Advocate. Now that the Supreme Court has asked the Government on what basis it proposes reservation for OBCs in higher education, I want to ask the Government precisely what explanation will it give. That is the key question that I should put today to one of the minister concern with the issue, Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Finance Minister, the protesting students who met you some 10 or 12 days ago said that you are an ardent advocate for the cause of reservations in higher education for OBCs. Is that a correct description of your position?

P Chidambaram: Those adjectives are their’s. I support reservation.

Karan Thapar: So you think that reservation is the right thing?

P Chidambaram: Among all the instruments available to us for affirmative action, the one that is proved most effective is reservation.

Karan Thapar: Explain to me. Many people would say that there is no doubt that steps need to be taken to help the OBCs to get greater access to higher education. Why do you believe reservation is the right way of doing it?

P Chidambaram: Experience tells us that.

Karan Thapar: What experience?

P Chidambaram: The experience of Southern states.

Karan Thapar: What is the experience of Southern states?

P Chidambaram: Let me tell you. It all began in the state of Mysore almost 75 years ago. In Tamil Nadu we have had reservations now for over 60 years. Andhra and Kerala have reservations for over 50 years.

Karan Thapar: Have they succeeded?

P Chidambaram: Yes undoubtedly they have. Let me explain. Once you get a set of parents from the backward communities who are educated, the degrees the graduation the post graduation, then you find the second generation child is able to compete more effectively with children of families who have say 200 years of unbroken tradition of learning.

Karan Thapar: So you are saying that reservations in south India have improved the quality of education for everyone?

P Chidambaram: Undoubtedly.

Karan Thapar: Then let me put you the opposite of that. Because it’s widely believed that what you are saying is an illusion. All the centres of excellence which create the reputation for south India that you are referring to, I am talking about the Shankar Netralaya, the National Law College, the IIT Madras, the Indian Institute of Science Manipal there were other medical colleges, none of them have reservations for OBCs and as the sociologist Dipankar Gupta has pointed out in every single one of these the vast majority of faculty are non-OBC. They come from outside Tamil Nadu and they were not part of the Tamil Nadu education system. So clearly if they are proved its because they escaped from reservations not because of it.