Students from the scheduled castes

Two statements have been published in two separate articles in Medical Ethics Vol. 2, no. 2, Nov. – Dec. 1994 which are open to contradiction.

1. On the Students’ Page (page 10) it is said by those who argued against reservation that the doctors from the reserved category were of poor quality with consequent worsening standards and poor service. This concept is absolutely wrong. You will be surprised to know that many medical graduates from the scheduled castes at All India Institute of Medical Sciences did far better than their general category friends. It is not the reserved category candidates that lowers standards. Corruption and a lowering of the medical standards by candidates who pay corrupt examiners are to blame. (See the essay on the Sabnis episode on page 6 of the same issue.)
2. Another point made by the students suggests that only Brahmins and those from other higher castes are intellectuals. This is highly objectionable. Knowledge and intellect are not the monopoly of any caste. Any one, whatever his caste, can perform well if he puts his heart and soul into the effort. I am neither a Brahmin nor from any other higher caste yet I stood first in B. SC. (Hons.) in the University.