N. Singh’s Radical Formula: Why Reservation Should Go Only to Children of Government Primary Schools
N. Singh · ·6 min read
Translated from the original Hindi · मूल हिंदी लेख पढ़ें
Just picture in your imagination the morning of two children.
The first child studies at an international school in a metropolitan city. An air-conditioned bus ferries him from home to school, the classrooms are equipped with digital smart-boards and ACs, the annual fees run into three to four lakh rupees, and expensive private tutors visit his home separately to teach English and mathematics.
Now look at the second child. He studies at a government primary school in a remote village in the countryside. He has no shoes on his feet, no desk or bench to sit on; he sits on a torn burlap sack. Rainwater drips from the school roof during the monsoon, and across the entire school there is only one masterji (schoolmaster) to teach five classes, who is perpetually deployed either on ration card duty or election surveys.
Now, sixteen years later, when both children sit for the NEET, JEE, or Civil Services examinations, what does our system do? Our system completely ignores their background, resources, and the stark disparity in opportunities, and looks only at their ‘caste certificate’!
If the child studying in that expensive AC school possesses a certificate from a reserved category, he gets admission even with lower marks; and if the son of a poor farmer who sits on that tat-patti (jute floor mat) bears the general category stamp, he is cast out even after scoring 95%!
By any definition whatsoever, can you call this ‘social justice’?
N. Singh’s Radical Formula: Make the School Doorstep the Basis of Reservation
In his acclaimed book ‘Ginti Se Satta Tak’ (From Headcount to Power), author N. Singh presents a revolutionary and foolproof formula to root out this anomaly once and for all—one that can thoroughly transform both India’s education system and its reservation apparatus.
He proposes:
“The true and sole claimant to reservation ought to be that student who has completed their entire schooling from class one to twelve sitting on a tat-patti (jute floor mat) in a standard state government primary school and inter-college!”
The moment this single revolutionary rule is implemented, the following three epoch-making transformations will sweep through society:
- A direct strike against the inequality between rich and poor: Regardless of caste—if their parents had the capacity to pay the fees of an expensive private school, it plainly means they are socially and economically capable. They should compete on general merit.
- Direct benefits to the genuinely exploited: The children of rural landless labourers, potters, weavers, and small farmers will not need any coaching or patronage; simply by virtue of studying in a government school, they will automatically receive priority in higher education and employment.
- An overnight turnaround of government schools: When politicians, bureaucrats, and judges realise that their children too can avail the benefits of reservation only if they study in a government primary school, they will immediately allocate their budgets to make government schools world-class!
The Current System versus N. Singh’s School-Based Formula
| Criterion | Current Caste-Based System | N. Singh’s Government School Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility Criterion | Birth certificate and parents’ caste | Medium and institution of the student’s actual schooling |
| Distributive Justice of Resources | The affluent reserved-category student usurps the seats of both the poor general and poor reserved students | Only that student benefits who genuinely lacked basic resources |
| State of Government Schools | Politicians and officers send their children to private schools; government schools are abandoned | All influential people will be compelled to reform and improve government schools |
| Social Harmony | Perpetual animosity between castes, court litigations, and disregard for merit | An end to class conflict; establishment of genuine merit and equal opportunity |
The Bitter Truth from the Book: N. Singh’s Open Clarion Call
Author N. Singh, in the chapter ‘Equality of Education and Opportunity’ of his book ‘Ginti Se Satta Tak’, writes:
“As long as the foundation of reservation is not determined at the doorstep of the school rather than on a birth certificate, neither will the chasm between the rich and poor be bridged, nor will the wretched condition of government primary schools ever improve. Today’s reservation is making the affluent Dalit and affluent backward classes even more affluent, while pushing both the poor upper-caste and poor Dalit alike into the abyss. You cannot sow the seeds of disparity at the first step of education and expect to harvest equality on the terrace. If the state is truly honest, it should enact a law declaring that 80% of government jobs will be reserved solely for children who have passed out of government schools!”
— N. Singh (Ginti Se Satta Tak, pp. 112-113)
The author further strikes at government policy:
“If the Supreme Court and governments genuinely wish to exclude the ‘creamy layer’, they do not need to scrutinise forged income certificates; they need only examine the student’s school TC (Transfer Certificate)! A child who has spent twelve years in a school charging a monthly fee of ₹5,000 is, from no angle whatsoever, backward!”
— (Ginti Se Satta Tak, p. 116)
A Four-Step Blueprint for Implementing This Formula
- Government School Quota: On the lines of the 7.5% horizontal reservation granted to government school students in medical admissions by the Tamil Nadu government, this must be made mandatory across the country in central universities and government jobs.
- Common School System: Implementing the recommendation of the Kothari Commission (1966), the concept of Neighbourhood Schools must be revived, where the son of a DM (District Magistrate) and the son of a sanitation worker sit on the very same bench.
- Legal Mandate for Politicians and Officials: It must be made a mandatory condition for public representatives and Class ‘A’ (Group A) officers that their children receive their primary education exclusively in government primary schools.
- Tripling the Primary Education Budget: Budgetary expenditure on primary education should be raised to a minimum of 4% of GDP so that computer labs, playgrounds, and trained teachers become available in every primary school.
A Thought-Provoking Question (The Book’s Message)
Will the nation’s future improve merely through political bartering over caste certificates, or will it improve by delivering the world’s finest education to that child sitting on the very last tat-patti (jute floor mat) in the village?
To understand the comprehensive blueprint of this most revolutionary and equitable solution to reservation, this chapter of N. Singh’s celebrated book ‘Ginti Se Satta Tak: Bharat Ka Ankaha Yuddh’ (From Headcount to Power: India’s Untold War) must be read by every teacher, student, and parent.
As long as the foundation of reservation is not determined at the doorstep of the school rather than on a birth certificate, neither will the chasm between the rich and poor be bridged, nor will the wretched condition of government primary schools ever improve.