Full Transcript:

Kanchan Jain (Agra/Uttarpradesh): Sir, my question is, as today, we are talking about unity on one hand and on the other, we have reservation in terms of admissions in colleges and job opportunities. (Applause) So isn't it that it is bringing diversity in our thoughts? Because unity of the mind is the greatest necessity of the time and this is bringing in… bringing the diversity in our thoughts. So, how can we… what measures can we have to remove it?
Sadhguru: This whole reservation policy when it was envisioned, it was to be for a short period of time to correct a certain ill which had taken place… a certain injustice (Applause) which had happened for thousands of years… a certain injustice which had occurred for thousands of years. To fix that, we thought for a certain period of time, we will give a certain segment of people an extra advantage so that they can come, level with the rest of the society, but unfortunately we have not been able to fulfill this vision. Even today… even today in villages across the country, if you belong to a certain caste or creed, you cannot even enter a tea shop and have a tea; you’re not supposed to walk through certain streets, everything is separate. It’s a segregated society even today. If we do not change this and change this very soon and the only way to change it is to educate and skill India. If we do not skill India, you will kill it.

So, this has to happen at the earliest possible time because any kind of reservation if it lasts for too long, it will become a discriminatory process which is what you are talking about. So this onerous responsibility is there, that the discriminatory process that is being… even today practiced in the villages of India has to go. Youth have a role to play. We have done many things in this direction but still it has not been solved. It is a huge problem. When such a big problem is there, taking away that little advantage they have. It needs to be reviewed every few years whether it is necessary in a certain area or not, but such right-thinking policies are not possible. These things are all happening on electoral basis whether we will win the election with this policy or not - that has been the only goal. So, it is very important that it is addressed properly. This is one thing that you can do whichever constituency you belong to. The legislative members or the parliament members that you elect, the youth should participate in this and call for a debate with the people who want to stay… stand for election that, see, this is the statistic in our constituency. Do we need this or not this? Can we change it or not? A policy has to come on the national level that it is selective, not across the nation. In urban areas, definitely it may not be necessary, but in many rural areas, it is necessary because they have been disadvantaged for thousands of years.