Reservations in India Are good or bad?
Answers
In an ideal India, we would all be judged by our intrinsic merit and we would not have a disadvantage or advantage for being from a specific caste. In that same ideal country, the government would do its job in giving people of all communities enough opportunities.
But, we don’t have that. Successive governments have not done much to bring the fruits of education and economic reforms to people at the bottom level, at a sufficient pace. Of course, they are also being improved, but not at the level/pace required. Thus, an end to caste-based quota system means the path of India’s lower castes to modern economy will be blocked. That unfairness will stoke disenchantment and chaos.
Thus, the advantage of the quota system is that it ensures India’s backward castes to have a shot at opportunities and their inclusion would in theory make it easy for further people in their community to come through regular means [by having role models and by having financial support]. Again, unlike a reservation based on purely economic status [that some in upper castes argue for] it will help redress the genuine disadvantages some castes are put through.
The disadvantage is that it also is a political tool. Forget about the Brahmins and General Castes, the real worry of reservation should be in the race to the bottom that castes fight on. These can become deadly events: 5 killed, 20 injured in Meena-Gurjar clashes - In that case, Gurjars wanted the ST category that Meenas have and the Meenas worry that there will be greater competition to seats in the ST category. Then there is a parallel clash between the Gurjars and Jats. 'Gujjars will give up quota demand if Jats taken off OBC list' And the Patels want to get the backward caste status: Patel quota stir turns violent, curfew in Gujarats Mehsana, internet blocked
Reservation based on caste is a blunt instrument, but it is needed in the absence of alternatives built by the government. Our government should ideally build policies to include people from all castes of society [that is what affirmative action in developed world looks like] in jobs and education. However, the governments are too lazy to do that and resort to the quota system. This blunt instrument has also given to a whole gamut of quota politics with caste leaders focusing a lot of energy on how “backward” of a certificate their caste can get.
In short, it is a necessary evil. It is evil because of the additional violence it creates around the country by caste leaders trying to get a special category for their castes, but necessary because without that the economic rise of India’s abject poor will be severely hampered.