The Merit Psyche : The Way it is Build in the Indian Society using IIT JEE/UPSC exams?
The Merit Psyche: The Way it is Built in the Indian Society Using IIT JEE/UPSC Exams
The enclosed graphic describes a model of 1000 students appearing in IIT-JEE and UPSC exams.
Let’s say that there are 1000 seats available (500 in each category and 500 in the reserved category )
To be selected: General (100), Reserved(100).
Cut off for General Merit Students= 850 marks
Cut off for Reserved Students = 800 marks
Cut off without Reservation = 825 marks ( 50 students would have still got selected from SC/ST/OBCs)
Now let’s see what happens!
(1) Category A General merit students are the ones who will feel the most pinch from the reservation. These students got marks between 825 and 850. These are around 50 students at most who missed out on opportunities because of reduced cutoffs set in place as a result of reservations. However, if seats were increased, then these students would not be in a disadvantageous position.
(2) “Category B” General Merit students are quite unlikely to be chosen even if reservations were not in place. These students scored between 800 and 825 on the General Merit scale but would have been disqualified had reservations not been in place. But they keep complaining that reservations are bad because they keep comparing their own cut score with the lesser SC/ST/OBC cut score of 800 marks. They are the biggest ranters against reservation.
(3) “Category C” General Merit Students do not do as well as the SC/ST/OBC students but join the ranks of those in Category A and Category B in attacking the deserving members of those groups. They make it a social issue by telling various stories. Finally, Society picks up the entire story and builds a Merit Narrative in a Society where reserved guys are considered inferior. The entire society starts maligning the reserved category.
(4) Now, even in the absence of reservation, 50 kids from SC/ST/OBCs would have cleared the exams. Now among them, around 25 kids would have also cleared the General Merit cutoff (Category D) and 25 kids would have got more than 825 marks (Category E) . These kids would have been selected whether reservations were there or not. They are bright and hardworking, and this is the single reason why they were selected. For Category D and E, there is absolutely no reservation needed and these students would have been selected even without reservation from the disadvantaged sections
(5) Now, the remaining 50 seats are filled up with a cutoff of 800 marks from SC/ST/OBC( Category F students ). Here, 10 kids are probably from privileged backgrounds. However, Category A/B/C and the General Castes build two types of stories. They keep ranting that the undeserving are getting in by showing a lower cutoff and the second type of story is that they take examples of a few students in Category D2/E2 and malign the entire category by saying that only the privileged among SC/ST/OBCs are getting reservations. These are far from reality, as discussed above.
Many tweets, stories, and narratives are circulated to malign hardworking, competent SC/ST/OBC child with the intention of building a Merit Narrative in the society….
This is the problem with IIT JEE, and this is how the hegemony of Merit is created in the country.
General Merit has become a separate caste altogether. They look down upon a reserved category even if they have better IQ, EQ, values, etc.
It is these mental blocks and the Merit Pschye that perpetuate inequality.
No wonder we hardly have anyone from disadvantaged communities reaching the top positions in politics/private sector and bureaucracy. !!!
