Is reservation still vital for India today?

Is reservation still vital for India today?

Yes — but not in its current, unchanged form.

Reservation still has a role, but how it works today needs serious reform.

---

Why reservation is still necessary ✅

1. Social inequality didn’t vanish with development

• Centuries of caste-based exclusion didn’t end in 1947—or with welfare schemes.
• SC/ST communities still face discrimination in housing, marriage, hiring, and local power structures.
• Even today, representation in judiciary, higher bureaucracy, private leadership, and academia is skewed.

👉 Development schemes help survival; reservation helps representation.

---

2. Equal competition ≠ equal starting point

• A child from a marginalized caste often lacks:
  • Quality schooling
  • Social networks
  • Cultural capital
• Competing “on merit” without correcting this gap is structural injustice.

👉 Reservation is not charity; it’s a leveling tool.

---

3. Data supports its impact

• SC/ST presence in IITs, IIMs, civil services, and state services rose only after reservation.
• Where reservation was diluted, representation dropped.

👉 Without reservation, exclusion quietly returns.

---

Where reservation is failing ❌

This is where critics are right.

1. Creamy layer problem

• Benefits are repeatedly cornered by:
  • Politically powerful OBC groups
  • Families already in government jobs
• The poorest within these communities remain untouched.

👉 This weakens the moral legitimacy of reservation.

---

2. Caste-only logic ignores new poverty

• A poor General-category student can be more disadvantaged than a well-off reserved-category student.
• Current system often ignores economic distress.

👉 This fuels resentment and social fracture.

---

3. Permanent system for a temporary solution

• Reservation was meant to be time-bound, but became politically untouchable.
• No serious review mechanism exists.

👉 Any policy without evaluation becomes unjust over time.

---

The middle path India needs ⚖️

Reservation should evolve, not end.

What reform could look like:

1. Strict creamy layer exclusion across all categories
2. Hybrid model:
   • Caste-based reservation for representation
   • Economic-based support for poverty
3. Focus on education quality at school level (real equality starts there)
4. Periodic data-based review, not political fear

• ❌ Ending reservation now would push India backward
• ❌ Keeping it frozen forever will tear society apart
• ✅ Reforming it intelligently is the only sustainable path

Reservation is still vital for India—
but blind reservation is not.