In India, the Reservation policies are an age-old provision. Reservation policies were introduced in India to cater to the needs of the underprivileged classes like the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs to come forward and avail themselves of the opportunities in society. This includes the fields of employment, education etc.
Although the provision was put forward to establish the ideology of equality in society, looking from a wider perspective, it is clearly evident that this doesn’t always fulfill the meaning of equality in society.
The Reservation policy tends to encourage casteism rather than eradicate it, this promotes inequality replacing equality. This policy offers reserved quotas or seats which lower the qualifications required in competitive exams, job openings and other areas for socially and economically backward citizens. This helps people to reach a respectable position from the underprivileged areas of society.
Reservations compensate for the lack of resources people have in order to achieve their goals. It is a voice to the oppressed class and directs them through the right path to make use of the privileges given to them by the government. Possibilities are high that new castes might take form in the society, which would again be a minority demanding reservation in its name. When candidates or employees are appointed on the basis of reservation, meritorious and qualified people coming up to different sectors will be reduced when compared to less qualified people coming up with the reservation policy.
Percentage of Reservation Provided to each deserving class
According to the given statistics, the reservation quota allotted to different categories in the country is, 7.5% for the scheduled tribes, 15% for the scheduled castes, 27% for the OBCs, 10% for the EWS and in total the percentage goes up to 59.50%. This is mainly targeted for the downtrodden areas of society with an intention to bring in equal participation of each and every citizen in the society.
As, the constitution guarantees equal representation to all the people irrespective of their caste, class and gender, the reservation policy was put forward for the people who are left without any privileges due to their low economic status.
In conclusion, it cannot be said that cent percent equality is brought up in society with the help of the implementation of reservation. There are loopholes to this system too as every system has, it doesn’t entirely fulfill the needs of the deserved class and in turn the beneficiaries are left without benefits. Chances are high that new classes may form in the society, keeping in mind the reservation policies given to the backward classes in society.
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