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Should Reservations Be In Place For Ever?

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-11-08 07:35:23

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

While upholding the 103rd amendment to the Indian Constitution which provided for 10% quotas in education and jobs for the economically weaker sections among the general category of citizens with a split (3-2) verdict, two judges on the bench advised the government to revisit the entire reservation scenario and do away with quotas within a given time frame. This is welcome. What started as affirmative action (which the framers of the Constitution wanted to run for just 10 years) is now being treated as a life-long right.

No affirmative action can go on indefinitely, as the Supreme Court rightly pointed out. If it needs to run for an inordinately extended period of time it means that something is wrong with the entire process and it is not achieving the ends for which it was started. Caste-based affirmative action in India was started to correct the historical injustice meted out to marginalized castes who were treated as untouchables and left to fend for themselves. It was necessary to include that vast mass of population in a free, democratic India that promised inclusive development for all its citizens.

But the results of 75 years of affirmative action are not along expected lines. There still exists a huge mass of marginalized castes that have not benefitted from quotas in jobs and education mainly because such quotas have been cornered by a select and privileged class among them. Hence, in India, merit suffers just because 10% of the backward classes who have the awareness, means and political privilege to enjoy the benefits of reservation and who, in tandem with the political class, manage to dupe the rest 90% into believing that they too enjoy the same benefits, have hijacked the system. It is time for the government to revisit the entire quota system and make the necessary corrections to ensure that the benefits percolate to the lowest level. A time limit must also be set to do away with the quota system.

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