Reservation in India refers to the practice of reserving a certain percentage of seats in government institutions for people belonging to backward and under-represented communities.
The primary beneficiaries of the reservation policies under the Constitution are the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Furthermore, this concept was made part of the Constitution in order to let the deprived classes come at par with the privileged classes.
One can attribute the origin of the reservation system to the age-old caste system of India. According to the caste system, the division of the people was to take place on the basis of occupation. As such, various sects came up like teaching and preaching (Brahmins), kingship and war (Kshatriya), and business (Vaish).
Soon, however, the system became an instrument of dividing the society on the basis of caste. Furthermore, this led to the creation of various walls between the different sections of society. After independence, the main objective of the reservation policy was to uplift the untouchables who had to suffer maximum marginalization.
Today, the division of the Indian society has taken place into Hindu, Muslim, SC, ST, OBC etc. Furthermore, demands for newer reservation are also coming from Christians, Jats, Pandits, Tribals etc.
Unfortunately, there has been the failure of the policy to achieve its aim to uplift the marginalised classes. Rather, the reservation policy has become a political tool in the hands of politicians.
The 93rd Amendment stirred the anger of the youth, in general, all over the country. Furthermore, protests took place from various sections of society. Moreover, the reason for the anger of the youth was that the development of one section of the society cannot take place at the cost of the other section.
Overall, it can be said that while the intention behind reservation cannot be blamed, it is the faulty implementation that has been the main problem.
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