Did Caste Reservations Destroy India
Hello Friends, let’s think about Did Caste Reservations Destroy India. Today I will describe it in detail.
Outputs Vs Outcomes? When we talk about the impact of caste reservation, we will first look at the output. Whether caste reservation has resulted in a larger representation of lower caste in colleges. thereafter we will look at the outcome of whether lower caste people got better job opportunities. Have their lives improved? Let’s talk about outputs in higher education first. Article 15 and 16 of the constitution has given powers to our government to reserve seats in educational institutes and matters of public employment.
According to population shares, about 22% of seats have been reserved for SCs and STs. So the first question is has reservation resulted in an increased representation of the SCs and STs.? Yes, it is increased. But can we say with utmost guarantee that reservation is the reason behind the increase in representation? If we want, we can speak of it in probabilities but as told by a researcher, we cannot say with a guarantee that reservation only is responsible for it. Despite the increase, we must focus on the fact that the representation share of STs is still lower than their seat reservation number.
The second argument given against reservation in education is that reserved students have lesser score requirements. This might help them get a seat but after getting into the college they would struggle and this seat would be wasted. Now, let’s talk about public employment. According to government data, there has been an increase in the representation of SCs and STs in government administration. But when we look at this data in detail and divide the government positions into different levels, we see that SCs and STs do have representation but it is mostly in lower positions.
One more argument that is quoted against reservation in government jobs is that if people from marginal groups enter governance then the effectiveness of governance will be compromised. Reservation has resulted in an increased representation of disadvantaged groups in public administration and higher education institutes but what has been its impact on their lives? Let’s get to know about that. According to research, overall it has had a positive impact on their lives but there is a lot of room for improvement even now.
If you look at all these studies then you feel like that reservation is quite a good policy tool resulting in so many positive changes. But we should also remember that reservations cannot change everything. many researchers have even talked about the same as well that including quotas in political representations of not guarantee benefit to marginal communities. Despite these benefits of reservations, there is a huge gap between lower caste and upper caste people today. All these data prove that only caste reservation is not enough to solve the problem of caste discrimination in our country.
Greater social integration simply means that people from different castes live together in every aspect of life. Schools are one of the best social settings to enhance this integration. And if such interactions happen more in schools and colleges then inter-caste marriages will automatically rise in the country consequently resulting in a decrease in discrimination. but in reality, in the entire country, only 6% of marriages are inter-caste marriages. This is the reason that some governments have tried promoting the same.
Recently, the Odisha government announced a scheme to incentivize social harmony. they launched a Sumangal portal to increase inter-caste marriages in the state. But this is not the duty of the government only. Another good example of improving the system is to not only provide reservations for seats but also offer free coaching to marginalized groups. So these are some solutions/ Suggestions to improve the reservation system to further reduce caste discrimination in our country and equality flourishes.
