\u2018\u2018Equality is not achieved when everyone is treated the same; it is achieved when everyone has an equal chance to succeed\u2019\u2019 Reservation is perhaps one of the most familiar and debated provisions of the Indian Constitution. Every election, examination result and discussion on social justice eventually circles back to the two important questions: Does India still need caste-based reservation? Is reservation harming the Right to Equality? To answer these questions, we should first understand why reservations were introduced. Before Independence, several communities faced discrimination solely because of their caste. This caste system in India was originally based on occupation and gradually became a rigid, forced social hierarchy where birth determined opportunities rather than ability. Families that were engaged in teaching, warfare and trade came to occupy the upper strata of the society, while those involved in sanitation and manual labour were pushed into the lower castes. These communities were denied education, dignity and equal opportunities for generations, simply because of the family in which they were born. When India got independent, the Constituent Assembly believed every citizen deserved the Right to Equality. However, the constitution framers also understood that formal equality alone could not uplift the lower communities who suffered centuries of discrimination. Reservation was therefore introduced to ensure social justice. Communities that faced untouchability or were into cleaning work were recognised as Scheduled Castes (SCs), isolated tribal communities as Scheduled Tribes (STs) and later Other Backward Classes (OBCs) were included to address social and educational backwardness.\u00a0 There are two types of reservation: Vertical Reservation (SC, ST, OBC and EWS) and Horizontal Reservation for women, persons with disabilities and other identified groups. The reservation framework in India has also evolved through some landmark judgments. State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan (1951) led to the First Constitutional Amendment and Article 15(4). M.R. Balaji (1963) introduced the principle that reservation should ordinarily remain within 50%, while N.M. Thomas (1976) recognised that equality sometimes requires affirmative action. The landmark Indra Sawhney (Mandal) Case (1992) upheld 27% reservation for OBCs, introduced the Creamy Layer principle, reaffirmed the 50% ceiling, and generally barred reservation in promotions. The 77th Constitutional Amendment later enabled reservation in promotions for SCs and STs through Article 16(4A). M. Nagaraj (2006) and Jarnail Singh (2018) further clarified the constitutional requirements for promotional reservation, while Janhit Abhiyan (2022) upheld the 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).\u00a0 Despite these constitutional safeguards, many believe caste discrimination is no longer a present-day issue. Unfortunately, reality seems different. A friend of mine once shared his experience, which made me think about reservation and society. Growing up in a village, he belonged to an SC family. Even today, members of his community are not allowed to enter a local temple. When his family shifted to town for better opportunities, in the initial days, they faced difficulty in searching for a house because landlords would first ask about their caste and politely refused after hearing the answer. Seems like disguised discrimination. His struggles continued in school, where a teacher made him sit separately from the rest of the class. As a child, he never understood why he was treated differently. After high school, he secured admission to a reputed institution; many peers labelled him as a quota student and assumed he did not deserve to be there. Despite being academically brilliant, the constant mockery shattered his confidence, and eventually he dropped out of the institution. It took him 2 years to recover and return to his studies.\u00a0 His story made me realise that reservation itself has become a new source of discrimination. Until this mindset changes, discussing the complete removal of reservations seems premature. However, acknowledging the need for reservation does not mean ignoring its shortcomings. Many students lose opportunities despite scoring higher percentages than candidates admitted through reserved categories. Their disappointment is also genuine. Another concern is the Creamy layer issue. Families that have already benefited from reservation often continue receiving the same advantages, while the poorest and most backwards from those communities remain behind. Reservation should empower the most disadvantaged. Ensuring periodic review of beneficiaries would make the system more equitable.\u00a0 Political interests have furthermore complicated the issue by frequently making reservations an electoral promise rather than promoting real social justice. The strongest argument against reservation is meritocracy. But can merit truly exist where resources are unequal? Imagine two UPSC aspirants, one studies in an elite school with access to coaching, quality resources and financial security. The other has a completely different environment; he struggles with poverty and social discrimination. If both score differently, is talent alone responsible? Merit is not created in the examination hall but rather built over years through access to education, resources, family support and equal opportunities. Judging people only by marks without considering unequal starting points creates an illusion of fairness rather than genuine equality. That\u2019s why reservation attempts to level an uneven playing field. Reservation was never intended to be permanent. It was envisioned as a corrective measure until Indian society treats everyone as equal in reality.\u00a0 The way forward is neither blind support nor complete abolition. Reservation should continue where discrimination exists, but it must be accompanied by reforms. In the end, the success of the Indian reservation system will depend on how fast it becomes unnecessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018\u2018Equality is not achieved when everyone is treated the same; it is achieved when everyone has an equal chance to succeed\u2019\u2019 Reservation is perhaps one of the most familiar and debated provisions of the Indian Constitution. Every election, examination result and discussion on social justice eventually circles back to the two important questions: Does India […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":2416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[611],"class_list":["post-2415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-others"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Medical-students-protest-against-reservations-in-2006-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2417,"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415\/revisions\/2417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2415"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iimun.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}