(This speech was given at the Microsoft Speechweavers Club.7-9 min speech followed by 2-3 min discussion)
Men are made equal but they are born unequal. And as they grow the inequality grows along with them. In India to cut down on this cancerous growth, we need to introduce reservation in private firms for backward class people.
Fellow Toastmasters, a warm good evening.
A 30% reservation should be introduced to the backward class population representing 40% of the population. Currently it has to go along with the existing caste system based reservation till a point in time when the economic state can be rightly determined. Then this can act as the criterion for reservation.
We, who works in private company, would be dead against reservation as we are proud that we got through by sheer merit. Once reservation comes we feel threatened.
Let’s consider this. There are 50 job opportunities and 100 students are vying for it. Assume among this, 30 are very poor people and hence their educational standards tend to be low. Now for the regular students it’s easy as they would easily edge out those 30 poor people in the job contention .Effectively 70 students are trying for 50 seats which give disproportionate advantage to the regular students. What I suggest is let’s divide the seats and students into 2.groups i.e 70 regular students vie for 35 job seats and 30 reservation eligible vie for 15 seats. The ratio is the same as the original 50 seats and 100 students .The undeserved advantage regular students get levelled out in the process. When we play football it should not be like one team’s players have boot and the other players play with bare foot. Let the teams with boots play against each other and the let the teams playing on bare foots be pitted against each other.
There is a general notion that not the eligible one gets the reservation. Till the economic survey is conducted and proper segregation is done based on the economic status the caste based reservation has to go on. But as an immediate remedy we can set an upper limit for wealth like say 2 lakhs per year. Understandably it’s quite difficult to get this working perfectly but striking contrasts can be obviously be screened--- like the son of the chief secretary though he belongs to scheduled caste it can be denied. With the existing background verification of the company it wouldn’t be a big headache to verify the economic claims of the applicant. The provision also helps companies to completely shed the caste based reservation and depend purely on economic status based reservation.
Another prejudice held is that reservation would make the eligible lazy. This argument does not hold since there will be competition within the group eligible for the reservation. The people below the poverty line (BPL) make about 40% of the Indian population and if someone says there wouldn’t be any competition within 45 crores people its hard to comprehend.
People already get reservation during their studies .Then why again reservation for job is a seemingly genuine concern. Given its prior low performance on account of poor opportunities, the backward class will be easily edged out by the regulars. So if the reservation is not given in job hiring the reservation given for study will be rendered a waste As such the country will be successful in creating lots of engineers who don’t have a job.
One of the other vehement opposition raised is that the quality of the organization would go down. And the less eligible people will push the company into loss. Companies involve themselves in charitable activities like raising poor children and age old home. In a way it covers up the Shakespearean Shylock who wanted a pound of flesh from the heart of the person who wouldn’t get his money. The companies should dare to go beyond these social facelifts. If the company is genuine in their verbal exercise let them dare to induct the people who may be little less effective from the rest .This difference will be very less only practically. Think of anyone in your college who passed the course. Won’t they be also able to do the same job as you do given the same step of trainings in this company? I am not denying the uniqueness of each individual and slight performance slack may be expected in the initial years – at the max 2 years and not beyond. I don’t think the same course will produce intellectual elephants and intellectual ants. Difference would be there but that is minute .Only thing is the difference appear magnified for us because of the fierce competition. The margin of selection is very small like in a 100m race. The runner who comes last is not a bad runner by any means.
Examples of people who already have made it big from poor background are often sited. Even without reservation they made it big then why others can’t is the logic. We may want to talk about Abdul Kalam who emerged into the echelons of power from his poverty ridden days in childhood. Anyone would be easily able to give few more examples. But it must be remembered that these are not examples – but exceptions. Because some exceptional people fought their heart out to emerge successful should not be the reason to deny opportunities for backward people. How can we even think of the hard fought struggle of Abdul Kalam and the like as pitfall for the poor and the aggrieved?
Reducing the gap between rich and the poor which is getting widened day by day is mandatory. Reservation is a way to do it. We need to make sure that the each section of the society is carried along with the bandwagon of progress. It will reduce the unrest among the common population and also reduce the antagonistic feeling they have towards rich .It will generate a feeling among them that they too have a chance to make it.
There are brilliant people who provided an opportunity can make it really big. Many talents in India are wasted on lack of opportunities. Many more Abdul Kalams are there in the corners of India carrying big boulders on their shoulders. We should help them realize their dreams as India’s dreams will never be fulfilled with their dreams unrealized. I don’t think anybody is sadistic to see more people as poor in the country which already homes one-third of the global poor.
As a point to ponder over, I want you to think whether you would have made into this company if you were born into an impoverished family.
Microsoft has shown many ways in their commitment to society and you are the leaders in it. I call upon all the Microsoft employees to put this case before the management to achieve this glorious milestone .Lets hope a new beginning will dawn upon this country.
____________________________________________________
(The below snippet was delivered after the 2-3 min open house discussion)
The urge and the idea of equality shall remain forever. Let’s help India become a country that offers equal opportunities to its children. Let’s agree to give a helping to those people who are denied all fortunes in life by giving them reservation in private companies.
Over to you toastmaster.
Men are made equal but they are born unequal. And as they grow the inequality grows along with them. In India to cut down on this cancerous growth, we need to introduce reservation in private firms for backward class people.
Fellow Toastmasters, a warm good evening.
A 30% reservation should be introduced to the backward class population representing 40% of the population. Currently it has to go along with the existing caste system based reservation till a point in time when the economic state can be rightly determined. Then this can act as the criterion for reservation.
We, who works in private company, would be dead against reservation as we are proud that we got through by sheer merit. Once reservation comes we feel threatened.
Let’s consider this. There are 50 job opportunities and 100 students are vying for it. Assume among this, 30 are very poor people and hence their educational standards tend to be low. Now for the regular students it’s easy as they would easily edge out those 30 poor people in the job contention .Effectively 70 students are trying for 50 seats which give disproportionate advantage to the regular students. What I suggest is let’s divide the seats and students into 2.groups i.e 70 regular students vie for 35 job seats and 30 reservation eligible vie for 15 seats. The ratio is the same as the original 50 seats and 100 students .The undeserved advantage regular students get levelled out in the process. When we play football it should not be like one team’s players have boot and the other players play with bare foot. Let the teams with boots play against each other and the let the teams playing on bare foots be pitted against each other.
There is a general notion that not the eligible one gets the reservation. Till the economic survey is conducted and proper segregation is done based on the economic status the caste based reservation has to go on. But as an immediate remedy we can set an upper limit for wealth like say 2 lakhs per year. Understandably it’s quite difficult to get this working perfectly but striking contrasts can be obviously be screened--- like the son of the chief secretary though he belongs to scheduled caste it can be denied. With the existing background verification of the company it wouldn’t be a big headache to verify the economic claims of the applicant. The provision also helps companies to completely shed the caste based reservation and depend purely on economic status based reservation.
Another prejudice held is that reservation would make the eligible lazy. This argument does not hold since there will be competition within the group eligible for the reservation. The people below the poverty line (BPL) make about 40% of the Indian population and if someone says there wouldn’t be any competition within 45 crores people its hard to comprehend.
People already get reservation during their studies .Then why again reservation for job is a seemingly genuine concern. Given its prior low performance on account of poor opportunities, the backward class will be easily edged out by the regulars. So if the reservation is not given in job hiring the reservation given for study will be rendered a waste As such the country will be successful in creating lots of engineers who don’t have a job.
One of the other vehement opposition raised is that the quality of the organization would go down. And the less eligible people will push the company into loss. Companies involve themselves in charitable activities like raising poor children and age old home. In a way it covers up the Shakespearean Shylock who wanted a pound of flesh from the heart of the person who wouldn’t get his money. The companies should dare to go beyond these social facelifts. If the company is genuine in their verbal exercise let them dare to induct the people who may be little less effective from the rest .This difference will be very less only practically. Think of anyone in your college who passed the course. Won’t they be also able to do the same job as you do given the same step of trainings in this company? I am not denying the uniqueness of each individual and slight performance slack may be expected in the initial years – at the max 2 years and not beyond. I don’t think the same course will produce intellectual elephants and intellectual ants. Difference would be there but that is minute .Only thing is the difference appear magnified for us because of the fierce competition. The margin of selection is very small like in a 100m race. The runner who comes last is not a bad runner by any means.
Examples of people who already have made it big from poor background are often sited. Even without reservation they made it big then why others can’t is the logic. We may want to talk about Abdul Kalam who emerged into the echelons of power from his poverty ridden days in childhood. Anyone would be easily able to give few more examples. But it must be remembered that these are not examples – but exceptions. Because some exceptional people fought their heart out to emerge successful should not be the reason to deny opportunities for backward people. How can we even think of the hard fought struggle of Abdul Kalam and the like as pitfall for the poor and the aggrieved?
Reducing the gap between rich and the poor which is getting widened day by day is mandatory. Reservation is a way to do it. We need to make sure that the each section of the society is carried along with the bandwagon of progress. It will reduce the unrest among the common population and also reduce the antagonistic feeling they have towards rich .It will generate a feeling among them that they too have a chance to make it.
There are brilliant people who provided an opportunity can make it really big. Many talents in India are wasted on lack of opportunities. Many more Abdul Kalams are there in the corners of India carrying big boulders on their shoulders. We should help them realize their dreams as India’s dreams will never be fulfilled with their dreams unrealized. I don’t think anybody is sadistic to see more people as poor in the country which already homes one-third of the global poor.
As a point to ponder over, I want you to think whether you would have made into this company if you were born into an impoverished family.
Microsoft has shown many ways in their commitment to society and you are the leaders in it. I call upon all the Microsoft employees to put this case before the management to achieve this glorious milestone .Lets hope a new beginning will dawn upon this country.
____________________________________________________
(The below snippet was delivered after the 2-3 min open house discussion)
The urge and the idea of equality shall remain forever. Let’s help India become a country that offers equal opportunities to its children. Let’s agree to give a helping to those people who are denied all fortunes in life by giving them reservation in private companies.
Over to you toastmaster.
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