The ongoing tussle between various tribal student unions with regard to NSSE II exam for MBBS, Engineering and others courses is a matter of serious concern and may lead to unprecedented divide within the Naga family if not tackled firmly and at the earliest.
While students in other states are busy with admission in their respective allotted institutions, selected/aspiring medical and technical students in Nagaland are still uncertain of the fate and seat allocations, causing heartburns and tensions both for parents and students alike.
At this critical juncture the lackadaisical attitude and response of the State government to the serious issue is jeopardizing the career of hundreds of students. I would also like to share my opinion with regard to reservation of seats for backward tribes (BTs) in technical courses. It has been observed that some so-called backward tribes are availing the backward quota seats as well as encroaching on the seats of other tribes through merit basis. This is depriving majority of the other Naga tribes who do not enjoy ‘reservation within reservation’. The state government should make the backward quota reservation policy clear so that no student enjoys double benefit at the cost of thousands of other students. It is also ridiculous to insist on BTs reservation even if the students failed to score minimum marks in the all India level exams for technical courses.
Is it justice that those students who qualified through sheer hard work should sacrifice their seats for the sake of backward quota?
I would also request the Angami Students’ Union and other student unions to make a comparative study of the population of each Naga tribe and number of state government employees of that particular tribe as against the total population of all Naga tribes and total number of state government employees. If for any backward tribe, the population vis a vis government employees is more or less uniform with other tribes, then the backward tag should be removed.
We as concerned parents will not remain mute spectators to the ugly drama being enacted time and again in the name of BT reservation or quota. We are ready to go to court for the sake of justice of our children. The line should be drawn – only BT quota or open competition for all. No more BT quota plus merit quota.
Lastly, the verification process being conducted by NSF is pointless and should be stopped as the latter has so far not taken any initiative to address the genuine grievances of the student community at large.
Kevise Sogotsu, Dimapur
