Reservation System of India

I recently came across this image on Social Media and think it truly reflects the deep rooted caste & reservation system that continues to plague modern day India.

 

The primary objective of the Reservation System is to increase the opportunities for the under privileged communities. A process that will uplift their lifestyle to have their place in the mainstream of Indian Society. When the great leaders of our country came up with the system am sure it made perfect sense given the ravines that existed between communities at that time. A system that will fusion the society and move India forward.

In the last 69 years of Independence, one would have expected India to have made tremendous strides and abolished or be very close to abolishing the caste based reservation system. Instead, every elected government and politician not only ensured the caste system is in place but strengthened the roots of it for their own political gains. As a result we have new caste / sub caste fighting every day to be included into the Reservation System. Even the great Dr. B.R Ambedkar who pioneered the reservation system would be ashamed to see the state of it and how badly it has been misused

I do not think it is fair to lay the blame squarely on the politicians after all “We the People” are the ones who elected them. We all need to take the blame collectively for allowing castes to fission our society.

No system in the world is perfect. Each has got its own pros and cons. On one side we find a minority of the population who have made full use of the reservation system to achieve their full potential and gone on to make significant contribution to the society. The other side of the spectrum is where the system has developed and continuing to develop generations who believe they can be average and yet find their way into the professional courses or government jobs. 

The adverse effect of the system does not just end there. Over the years it has attributed to significant brain drain where the crème de le crème have preferred to move abroad where they were recognised for their talents and not their caste. One can only imagine how far the country would have progressed in all these years if that had not happened.

When the system was setup it was set to be reviewed every 5 years. Reviews are to ensure the system is meeting its objective, plug any holes where it might be flawed and ensure it is still relevant to the current society. No government had / have the guts to take an objective view and reform the system. What we have today is a completely outdated and irrelevant system that threatens the fundamentals of secularism.

So should the system be abolished, does India no longer need a reservation system? Absolutely not. India is far from reaching that state. What India needs is a system that is equal and fair to every citizen of the country. A system that recognises, provides opportunities and creates a platform for people who strive to progress further despite their limitations be it financial or other disabilities, not because they were born into a particular caste.

“Jathikal Illaiyadi Papa, Kula Thazthi Uyarthi Sollal Pavam” - Famous words of a famous poet Subramaniya Bharatiyar who played an active role during Independence struggle. It Translates to there is nothing like caste and it is a sin to be discriminating based on one’s caste. It is about time we all work towards making those words a reality and start identifying ourselves as proud citizens of India rather than as Brahmins, Dalits or any other community for that matter.  

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time

We are the one’s we’ve been waiting for

We are the change we seek