India's 'Reservation Policy'- A student's take

BY: Lavanya Karki

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India’s reservation policy needs to be scrapped.

The evil of reservations has plagued the Indian society for long enough. It is high time that we get rid of the reservation policy for if we don’t, it will shake the foundations of our development. Since its inception in 1950 with the commencement of the Constitution of India, the reservation policy has engrained itself deeply in Indian society and politics over the several years of our independence. The Constituent Assembly of India had reasoned that reservations should exist for a period of ten years, after which they should be removed. But the politics of caste has allowed reservations to exist for more than 75 years of independence. As India celebrates its 77th Independence Day next month, it is imperative that we reason out why India’s reservation policy needs to be scrapped.

Firstly, reservations should be removed because they reinforce casteism. People begin to define themselves by their caste because doing so gives them benefits. This results in resentment in the society and caste identities tend to get highlighted.

Secondly, it aims to do justice to one by doing injustice to another. Reservations give seats to a certain section at the cost of the general category. This raises the question of whether we are trying to remove the effects of injustice done to these groups over the years by creating contemporary injustices.

Thirdly, reservations dilute the quality of our workforce and hampers the development of our country. If a person lower in merit gets a certain seat or job, it is but obvious that the more worthy person loses the opportunity to contribute effectively to the development of the country.

We live in a dystopian society. Here, being in the general category is not a privilege but a punishment. It pains to see that a person who gets a higher rank in the general category does not get a seat or a job, whereas another person having a rank ten times lower comfortably gets a seat. This is not to deny that people who are being given reservations face difficulties, but does that justify snatching a seat from the one who deserved it more? Does that justify reinforcing casteism? Does that justify diluting the quality of our demographic dividend? In my opinion, it certainly does not.

Justice for all would mean giving everybody the same resources in terms of education, health etc. and then letting them be selected in general merit. Efforts should be towards ensuring that everyone starts the race from the same starting line and not towards trying to make the finish line closer for a few competitors.

Hence, reservations need to be scrapped. The future to beckons us, so let’s make the right choice.