Caste based reservation policy of India

 

Caste based reservation policy of India

The caste-based reservation evolved during the British rule and has been continued by the country even after independence. It basically reserves a part of higher education, public sector, employment and legislative representation for the backward castes. These sections are the ones who have faced injustice in past because of their caste identity and therefore reservation can also be viewed as positive discrimination since it is a quota based affirmative action. Governed by the government policies, the reservations are backed by the Indian constitution.

Reasons for the introduction of caste-based reservation –

·     Since these backward castes have faced injustice in the past, the reservations were made to correct that injustice.

·     It was believed that these backward castes cannot come to level with the upper caste since they had more access to the resources since long time and therefore to bring them equal to the upper castes the reservations were introduced.

·     To make sure that the backward castes get adequate chance to represent themselves in the services under the state.

·     The development of the country depends on the development of its people and the people include all the castes.

·     To bring all the people to the same level before judging them on the basis of merit.

Why are people against caste-based reservation –

·     Reservations for government jobs leads to divisions in classes among people from general quota and reservation-based entry.

·     The aim of the reservation policy was education not perpetuation of caste but the caste- based reservation policy only seems to perpetuate the notion of caste.

·     The objective of the introduction of the concept of reservation was to ensure that the unprivileged castes get equal access to the resources but that didn't seem to bring any major progress for the backward Castes.

·     Judgement on the basis of merit is the key to success of many progressive countries but reservations are the exact opposite of merit- based selection.

·     Reservations were aimed to promote inclusion, rather they are doing the opposite. Many upper caste poor people are facing discrimination which makes them frustrated.

·     The elite group in the backward caste have taken and have been taking complete advantage of the reservations. This advantage however is not reaching the marginalized groups within the backward caste.

·     It has become a device to satisfy slim political ends via invoking magnificence loyalties and primordial identities.

What could be done –

·     Benefits of the reservation should be received by the majority of unprivileged or underprivileged people rather than few well off people with the tag of a particular cast.

·     The reservation process should be able to identify the genuine economically backward people in order to make the process less unjust.

·     Awareness among individuals is required. On one hand the unreserved Castes keep on opposing the concept of reservations and on the other hand the marginalized sections of the backward castes have no idea of how to reap the benefits of reservations.

The caste- based reservation policy has its own pros and cons but the important issue is that the benefits of it are being reaped by people who don’t really need it.