Folks,
I was thinking that there is not a good estimate of the percentage of brahmins in TN or other states of India. Politicians always say that it is less than 3% and yet they are dominating all over etc. But I think it is not true. I feel it could be close to 10%. Similarly I read an article by Francois Gautier where he says t that the OBC percentage overlall in India is not 52% as they claim. It is around 32% or less . He says that the unreserved category forms a very high percentage of the overall poppulation.
So to prove the casteist politicians wrong and to know about our own strength and thus to use it effectively in order to sustain our community, we may have to take a census.
Couple of things to remember:
First we need to debate whether it is good or bad.
Next, if we find it is good and want to go-ahead then it will be a very costly thing to do. The cost can be brought down by voluntary work and the use of internet / e-mail etc. Volunteers can collect information from 5 - 7 streets around them and consolidation can occur locality wise, citywise etc.
There might be concerns that some non-brahmins may lie that they are Brahmins. But I think it is highly unlikely since they will lose out on reservation. In today's world none would want to be called as a brahmin esp if he is a non brahmin and enjoying reservation benefits.
This database of brahmins can be used in many good ways such as for networking, helping each other, information dissemination and can be projected as a vote bank to influence political parties.
But it can be used wrongly also as targets for any mischief. But I think it is highly unlikely. Still the data needs to be kept confidential. At the same time if our numerical strength is really high, then the numbers alone can be made public and be used to advantage in democracy.
So will it be a good idea or a bad idea?
Again I want to reiterate one thing here: This is not being casteist. Far from it. This is actually about establishing meritocracy in the society. Even among the Brahmis we have differences in terms of height, weight, wealth, complexion, etc etc. But one uniting factor is we all believe in meritocracy and are against the flawed reservation policy. This exercise I believe can mobilise the people with the right attitude towards meritocracy. If this exercise is successful then it can be extended to cover other communities that believe in meritoctracy and are out of the ambit of the reservation.
I welcome your thoughts.
I was thinking that there is not a good estimate of the percentage of brahmins in TN or other states of India. Politicians always say that it is less than 3% and yet they are dominating all over etc. But I think it is not true. I feel it could be close to 10%. Similarly I read an article by Francois Gautier where he says t that the OBC percentage overlall in India is not 52% as they claim. It is around 32% or less . He says that the unreserved category forms a very high percentage of the overall poppulation.
So to prove the casteist politicians wrong and to know about our own strength and thus to use it effectively in order to sustain our community, we may have to take a census.
Couple of things to remember:
First we need to debate whether it is good or bad.
Next, if we find it is good and want to go-ahead then it will be a very costly thing to do. The cost can be brought down by voluntary work and the use of internet / e-mail etc. Volunteers can collect information from 5 - 7 streets around them and consolidation can occur locality wise, citywise etc.
There might be concerns that some non-brahmins may lie that they are Brahmins. But I think it is highly unlikely since they will lose out on reservation. In today's world none would want to be called as a brahmin esp if he is a non brahmin and enjoying reservation benefits.
This database of brahmins can be used in many good ways such as for networking, helping each other, information dissemination and can be projected as a vote bank to influence political parties.
But it can be used wrongly also as targets for any mischief. But I think it is highly unlikely. Still the data needs to be kept confidential. At the same time if our numerical strength is really high, then the numbers alone can be made public and be used to advantage in democracy.
So will it be a good idea or a bad idea?
Again I want to reiterate one thing here: This is not being casteist. Far from it. This is actually about establishing meritocracy in the society. Even among the Brahmis we have differences in terms of height, weight, wealth, complexion, etc etc. But one uniting factor is we all believe in meritocracy and are against the flawed reservation policy. This exercise I believe can mobilise the people with the right attitude towards meritocracy. If this exercise is successful then it can be extended to cover other communities that believe in meritoctracy and are out of the ambit of the reservation.
I welcome your thoughts.
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