A Reserved Nation
The issue of caste-based reservation in India is perhaps one of the most important socio-economic and socio-political issues in India. The system of reservations originated when India was nothing but a British Colony, and the important posts in the government like magistrates and judges were only occupied by British citizens. This created a sense of deprivation among Indians owing to the fact that Indian citizens were not getting enough importance or representation in the British Government. This lead to a lot of agitation, which in turn lead to the creation of caste based reservation systems in which it was decided that a certain amount of important government posts was to be “reserved” only for Indian people. After Independence, however, the makers of the Nation and of the Constitution of India like Gandhi, Nehru and Dr Ambedkar decided that they should keep the system of reservations alive in order to help the backward classes of the Indian society rise up from generations of social and economic deprivation because of their lower caste. This lead to the caste based reservation system in education and services sponsored or provided by the Indian Government.
After almost seven decades since independence, the social scenario has changed significantly. Among the so-called “backward castes”, barely one percent has reached a level where they are on par with the then “higher castes” of the population. Many social reformers and political leaders are of the opinion that the caste based reservation system should be done away with for a reservation which would aim to help poverty-stricken masses of the population, for India is a country with great economic diversity.
The relevance of the article in the current socio-economic and socio-political scenario is perhaps beyond compare. A certain percentage of modern Indian population wants major reforms to be brought about in the reservation system, but the classes who are presently enjoying the reservations are against any future reforms of this system in the fear that they might not enjoy the same facilities that they have been enjoying all these years.
In the political scenario, no government is willing to bring about massive reforms on this sensitive topic as it is a fact that the political leaders who bring about necessary and logical reforms to this system will be committing political suicide, provided the fact that they have been able to pass the bill in the parliament in face of stiff opposition.
In the socio-economic scenario, we all know that poverty does not have any caste. A bright student may be of the so-called “high birth”, but he or she might be very poor and unable to fund his college education. In that case, we are turning a blind eye to the “deserved” in favour of the “reserved”. This might be anything but social justice and scenarios like this are quite common in Indian rural society.
Works Cited
Link to original article: http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/06/affirmative-action
"Indian Reservations." The Economist. The Economist, 29 June 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
