[Reader-list] The story of ‘merit’ (1950 to 2004 to at present)

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Dear Anoop
 
Thank you for sharing these
 
Kshmendra

--- On Wed, 7/7/10, anoop kumar <anoopkheri at gmail.com> wrote:


From: anoop kumar <anoopkheri at gmail.com>
Subject: [Reader-list] The story of ‘merit’ (1950 to 2004 to at present)
To: reader-list-request at sarai.net, reader-list at sarai.net
Date: Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 1:00 AM


from www.blog.insightyv.com
by *Anoop Kumar*

My lawyer father used to tell me about the power of  certain surnames and
the ‘reservation’ they enjoyed in their public lives in contrast with people
who were granted ‘reservations’ through the Indian constitution.  I used to
get amazed with the stories he narrated of court rooms where the surnames of
judges and the advocates often used to determine the outcome of the cases
rather than their merits.

And these used to happen automatically, no conspiracy, no underhand dealings
but pure, unadulturated ‘brotherhood’ of certian surnames. However, more
than this ‘brotherhood’ what became more important gradually was the
‘othering’ of people who donot have these surnames and have to suffer
prejudices, discrimination at all levels.

I myself witnessed the same ‘brotherhood’ and the ‘othering’ while giving
vivas in school practicals, interviews in entrance exams and also seen a
Dalit candidate being dismissed by the interview board for JNU Mphil
entrance exams after being asked just one question  saying that , “*Tumhara
toh selection ho hi jayega*” (You will anyhow get selected).

The student did get selected under SC quota but it is a different matter
that he got less than the average marks in his interview while scoring at
par with others in written examination.

*I am posting two articles* to understand how merit is linked with surnames
in this country. The first peice is an article written by a very eminent
Dalit writer and ex -bureaucrat  Mr. A.K. Biswas that has been published in
Mainstream (1993) and later on
www.ambedkar.org<http://www.ambedkar.org/research/Caseof.htm>
.

Another one is a small interview, taken by our magazine INSIGHT and
published in its first issue (2004), of Dalit student Himanshu Gautam who
cleared UP civil services exams with an over all 9th rank and broke the
record of maximum marks scored in UP PSC interviews by scoring staggering
80% marks as the UP government decided against revealing the background of
any candidate except the educational one to the interview board.
Case of an IAS Topper

By *A.K. Biswas *

*[The Author is retired IAS officer, an eminent writer, ex Vice-Chancellor
of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Muzaffarpur, Bihar*. *The article
was first published in Mainstream, VOL XXXII NO5, December 18, 1993*.*]*

*Fate of the first Scheduled Caste IAS (1950)
*

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) under the Constitution of free
India started functioning from January 26, 1950. The UPSC conducted its
first examination to recruit personnel for the IAS and Central Services the
same year. The First Report of the UPSC does not mention the number of SC/ST
candidates. But it discloses that Achyutananda Das was the country’s first
SC to make it to the IAS in 1950 itself. He was, in fact, the topper of his
batch in the written examination.

Achyutananda Das, from West Bengal, secured 613 out of 1050 marks in written
examination whereas N. Krishnan from Madras secured 602. But in the
interview, Krishnan secured 260 out of 300 as against 110 by Achyutananda
Das. Thus Achyutananda was left miles behind by Krishnan due to the latter’s
performance in the viva-voce test.

But the case of Aniruddha Dasgupta, also from West Bengal, is both
interesting and revealing. The marks obtained by these three may be examined
to appreciate the case of the topper in the table below -

  * *
*Name of Candidate* *Total (1050 marks)* *Interview (300 marks)* *Grand
(1350)*  1 N. Krishnan 602 260 862  2 Aniruddha Dasgupta 494 265 760
3 Achyutananda
Das 613 110 719

The margin of difference of marks between Achyutananda Das and N. Krishnan
in written papers being eleven only so in the interview if the latter
outstripped the former, there is not much surprise perhaps. But the written
and viva-voce marks of Aniruddha Dasgupta in comparison with those of
Achyutananda Das raise a number of issues.

Dasgupta secured the highest marks in viva-voce among all successful
candidates recommended for appointment to the IAS, IPS, IFS, etc. But it was
also he who got the lowest aggregate as well as the lowest average of all
those qualified for appointment to the IAS and Allied Services. Further, he
scored the lowest marks of all the qualified candidates in General
Knowledge.

Dasgupta scored 26.66 per cent in General Knowledge, 47.04 per cent in
written aggregate but an astounding 88.33 per cent in Personality Test as
against 52.66 per cent, 58.38 per cent and 36.66 per cent respectively
scored by Achyutananda Das. The margin of difference of marks between Das
and Dasgupta in written examination was as vast as 119. Reduced into
percentage, Das was an unbridgeable 11.33 per cent ahead of Dasgupta.

Any candidate strong in General Knowledge is usually expected to face the
Selection Board very confidently and to perform competently. Aniruddha
Dasgupta’s poorest (26.66 per cent) score amongst all successful candidates
in General Knowledge notwithstanding; he must have thrown up the biggest
surprise by scoring the highest marks in the interview.

His viva-voce score of 265 which was followed by Krishnan with 260, not only
helped him make up the vast gap between him and Achyutananda Das but he left
the latter far behind.

*In the ultimate count, Krishnan topped; Aniruddha Dasgupta occupied the
22nd position in the merit list and Achyutananda Das was assigned the 48th
position.*

Das was the last man in the list of qualified candidates recommended for
appointment in the IAS. He was allotted to the cadre of Uttar Pradesh.

There is no published record to examine the questions which were posed by
the Selection Board to Das, Dasgupta and Krishnan and the answers offered by
them. If those were available, posterity would have benefited by acquiring
the tools and techniques adopted by Dasgupta as to how to impress the
Selection Board of the UPSC despite miserable written scores.

*Fate of the first Scheduled Tribe IAS* *(1954)*

Nampui Jam Chonga, from Assam, was the country’s first tribal in the IAS
through the examination held in 1954. His case bears striking similarities
in certain aspects with that of Achyutananda Das. Nampui Jam Chonga scored
third highest marks in General Knowledge but got 160 only in Personality
Test. His scores can be compared with that of Rathindra Nath Sengupta, an
IAS allotted to the West Bengal cadre.

Nampui Jam Chonga scored 747 in written papers as against Rathindra Nath
Sengupta who got 692 marks-the difference between them being 53 marks.
Sengupta’s score (50) in General English was the lowest of all the qualified
candidates; in General Knowledge he was the second lowest, his pride being
humbled by Snehlata Puri (Punjab) who scored 37.

Nevertheless, Sengupta scored the second highest 240 (80 per cent) in
Personality Test, the highest 260 (86.66 per cent) being secured by two
candidates-S.K.Chaturvedi, Madhya Pradesh cadre and D.Bandopadhyay, West
Bengal cadre. S.K.Chaturvedi was the topper of his batch.

Nampui Jam Chonga ultimately was placed at 64th, the last in the merit
position for appointment to the IAS whereas Rathindra Nath Sengupta was
assigned the 52nd.

Notwithstanding their impressive performance in written papers, both
Achyutananda Das and Nampui Jam Chonga could not impress the personality
Test Board. Both Dasgupta and Sengupta, on the other hand, proved the
reverse that their personality impressed the Selection Board more than their
pen could impress their examiners.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

*An interview with Himanshu Gautam *

( UPPSC 9th Rank, 2004)

P.hD, sem I, Hindi Centre/ SL &CS (JNU, New Delhi)

*Congratulation: your success which must have been personally rewarding has
also helped break the myth that Dalits are not meritorious and the fact that
you secured highest marks in the interview re-affirms this.*

I have not done anything great but I do recognize that this is not only
personal success helps to dispel the myths that Dalits are not meritorious,
it will be real achievement. But I am not the first to tread this path to
success. There have been many Dalits before me who have secured better marks
then me. But it is a rare that we hear about them. Its only because I am in
JNU and there is an attempt by groups like INSIGHT to record these
successes, that I am giving this interview. (Smile)

*When did you being thinking of writing the civil services exams?*

At a very young age my father suggested this career to me and he has
remained a crucial support and inspiration since. But it was in JNU that I
found an atmosphere that helped me to focus and work consistently. My
friends helped me a lot, ESPECIALLY Prashant Sir and Sarwar Bhai. I am proud
of my friends and thank them.

*There is a feeling among Dalits students that they are at disadvantage
during interviews. Many have spoken of awkward question being asked, and
some have even accused interviewers of being out-rightly castiest. Did you
sense that your caste was under consideration at the UPPSC interviews?*

Yes. I am aware of this. I was nervous before the interview. But I was
fortunate that this year UPPSC had introduced the practice of not providing
the interviewers with information regarding the candidate identity. Hence
possibility of being harmed is less. Especially for candidates belonging to
the Dalit community. I think this had a part to play in my securing record
marks in the interview.

[Published in INSIGHT Vol 1, No 1, September
2004<http://archive.insightyv.com/?p=25>
]


-- 
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run, Obama ran
so your children can fly"
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