Quota Bill a Political Move: Rohtak Students Question Its Benefits

Most students in MDU, Rohtak, argue that the Quota Bill is a political move and question its benefits for the needy.

Rohtak Chaupal: Students have their say on 10% quota for economically weaker sections of upper caste.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Producer: Anubhav Mishra
Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam

With the 10% Quota Bill being passed in Parliament for the economically weaker sections among upper castes sparking a nationwide debate, The Quint’s Chaupal reaches Rohtak to interact with the students of Maharishi Dayanand University and learn their thoughts on the matter.

Most students in MDU, Rohtak argue that the bill is a political move and question its benefits for the needy.

Speaking to The Quint, Sandeep, an MA student explains how reservation hinders the development of the country.

“Reservation hinders the development of the country. You can see in the recent results. General category student who has scored 130 marks has failed but an SC or OBC student who scored 80 will become an IPS. I oppose caste-based reservation. Those who need reservation aren't receiving any benefits,” he says.

While some spoke against it, few students like Rahul Goyat said that ‘it is a daring step taken by the current government.’

“This is a daring step by current government. This should have been done decades ago. It will have a positive impact in future. It should be seen from election point of view. We should see that they have taken a step that no government took in the last 70 years for weaker section.”

Rahul Goyat, PhD student

Where Are The Jobs?

Students like Inderjeet raise questions over the promises made by the government over employment. Highlighting the disappointing figures from the CMIE report in January, he says:

“BJP government has been in power for four and half years. They promised over 2 crore jobs a year. As per the latest CMIE January report, 1 crore 10 lakh jobs have been lost. In UP, 93,000 people applied for 62 vacancies for the post of clerk. 5400 of them were PhD. If reservation was successfully implemented at least 62 of them would have been employed. What about the rest of them? Same for the post of clerk in MDU and the vacancies in RPF. Government is doing nothing for employment and on the contrary have taken steps like demonetisation and GST which are an extension of Congress policies and have wrecked the economy.”

‘Government Takes Decisions to Attract Voters’

Pinki, a PG Diploma student talks, about how the Quota Bill is a political ploy to attract voters.

“Not everyone has an equal economic status. Many of them lack the resources hence they have been provided reservation so that they can stand their ground against privileged section. It is a political step but every government tries to ensure its safety and takes steps to attract people towards them.”

Pinki, PG Diploma in Guidance & Counselling

<b></b>“Elections are six months away and all the parties need general votes. All of them are looking after their vote bank. Our PM is trying to build an image of India. In his speech at UN, he said he has built toilets. But that is a basic need. So these political parties are playing their own games.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Kuldeep, Student, MSc Mathematics