Reservation in premier indian colleges... a retrograde move!

I feel enraged by the recent announcement by our 'esteemed' Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh proposing 49.5 per cent reservation in IIMs, IITs, and central universities. (... for news link, read this or this.) Though I call the title of my post as a retrograde move... it would be better called an instance of decadent politics. I sometimes wonder why the Indian HRD ministry acts like bull$#|^ and this is not something like this has happened for the first time. During the previous government, when Dr. M.M. Joshi was our HRD Minister he invoked the same response in me by some proposals like intervening in IIMs and the like (.. I dont properly remember those things now.. yeah but the ire remains!)

The brand image that India predicts to the world is in a great part attributed to its IIT /IIM graduates who have made big in various sectors and shown to the world the brainpower that India is. It is a shame that these institutions are being subjected to the ministry’s own political and intellectual predilections.

Quoting from on of first article cited above:
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According to a highly placed source in the government, Singh did not consult either the Prime Minister or the Congress leadership before making his announcement. “Arjun Singh is Arjun Singh. He’s a law unto himself,” the source remarked.

Singh’s bombshell is being seen in Congress circles as an attempt to get back in the limelight after a three-month hibernation forced by ill-health. Since January, Singh has hardly attended office and important files have been going to his house for clearance.

In the present proposal, Singh has gambled on the fact that no party can oppose reservations for the OBCs in today’s caste-driven politics. He is bolstered by the fact that an interpretation of Article 15(4) of the Constitution by a nine-judge bench allowed for caste-based quotas up to 50 per cent. So Singh’s proposal only needs Cabinet approval to become an order.

The reaction is yet to set in. The Congress leadership and the government are waiting to see what impact the proposal has on students and educational authorities. Also, the Election Commission is yet to decide whether Singh’s revelation violates the code of conduct.

Singh himself was aware that he was dangerously close to a violation. He confessed to journalists that he would make an official announcement only after the assembly polls.

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Even the PM's panel is divided over the announcement (read this).
Some interesting discussion ensued on this topic on my college webmail.. and a very good point was raised that:

Why people are afraid to move to Economy based reservation from Caste based reservation? If I am SC and my dad has same income as your dad, then why I need more privilege than you? Why I have more "ignorance"? How many of our IIT SC/ST friends really needed reservation for their Socio-Economic status? There were few, but 27% reservation was enough.

Further, the intention of the reservations initially might have been good but the implementation has been real pathetic. Supreme court has already passed a ruling long time back that says that efforts should be taken to list who exactly is entitled for reservations but no one heeds care to that. Instead, such issues are exploited by our system to generate vote bank, gain power or some other similar ulterior motive... which I would summarize in short as "decadent (political) virtues" .. yes, it makes a good and befitting oxymoron on the morons who are our leaders!

more later,

P.S.
There is a petition protesting against this move which you could sign.
Some other interesting reads:
i. Read the editorial 'Caste Away' appeared in the Hindustan Times.
ii. Views and counterviews on reservations, as appeared in Times of India.
iii. Read the blog article Historical perspective on reservations in India with numerous comments.