The Reservation Policy in India is a process of reserving certain percentage of seats (almost up to 50%) in Government educational institutions and Government jobs for a certain class of people.

 In Central Government funded higher education institutions, 15% of available seats are presently reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students apart from 27% reservation for Other Backward Class (OBCs) totalling to 49.5%.

 OBC classifies castes which are socially or educationally or economically disadvantaged. 4.5% of Government jobs and education places are reserved for the minority which includes Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis), carved from the existing quota reserved for OBC.

 Decades ago, the reservation policy was adopted in our Country with a reason to uplift certain castes that were subjugated to atrocities, social and economic backwardness due to the prevalent dominance of caste system in the Society.

Just recently, the Maratha community of Maharashtra held an agitation demanding reservation. Some months ago, it was the Patels of Gujarat. Both these communities are in no way socially and economically backward. We have glaring example of the Brahmin community of Tamil Nadu having very cleverly churn themselves down in the league of the backward bandwagon and gaining enormously from the reservation system.

 It is no hidden truth that all these agitations for reservations have political backing. With the reservation system just becoming a tool for politicians to gain vote banks, the real reason has somewhere lost its essence, with castes that should be actually benefitted not being benefitted, and the others reaping the benefits of the reservation system that are actually not meant for them. The political indulgence in the process of reservation has merely reduced it from a noble idea to a strategy to increase their vote share.

 It may be a futile argument for me to argue on the ill-effects of the reservation policy as those benefitting from it would always vehemently argue against me.

 Instead of castigating the reservation policy as good or bad, I would rather pitch my voice on the idea and the reason behind its adoption. If that reason is losing its essence, then, of course, the reservation policy has to turn out to be bad.

 Let us try to introspect whether the so called claimants of the socially and economically backward classes are actually in practical and real sense socially and economically backward, with just a stamp of being from a backward caste being enough to gain profits in the name of reservations.

 How can a reservation policy be good if deserving candidates miss their opportunity because the policy gives preference to undeserving candidates just on the basis of their birth certificates! Isn’t the undeserving reaping the fruits of the labour of the deserving!

 Reservation makes sense only if the real backward class who are denied access to education, job opportunities etc. because of their poor financial condition be benefitted. It’s only then that essence of the idea of the adoption of reservation policy would be maintained.

 Today, the reservation policy has become a ladder to climb on the stairs of profit, money and other related interests for those who are just roaming with the stamp of being a backward class and are actually socially and economically much more stable than the general class.

 Let us understand that when we demand development then simultaneously we cannot demand backwardness. If we would demand more and more backwardness, then we won’t be able to move forward, and when we aren’t able to move forward, our progress would ultimately get stagnant.

 It’s time we realise that when more people aspire for backwardness instead of forwardness, the Country itself stagnates.

 On this Independence celebration of our Country, let us all demand freedom from this reservation.

 “The urge to be one among the backward will gradually lead towards the stagnation in the development of the country”