Caste and class has been a predominant problem in our Indian society. No matter how many more people we educate, we come across someone or the other who discriminates among people based on their community and caste background, often denying them the rights that they are very much entitled to.

The reservation system in India came into existence because of the caste division that existed in our country much before we attained independence. By dividing people into occupations according to their caste, came into existence the life-long struggle of people belonging to the downtrodden sections of the society, such as the people belonging to the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes.

Our constitution through Article 15 (4) does provide the government with the power to make special provisions such as the reservation system which can help in the welfare and advancement of the backward classes of our country.

Thus, we have a reservation system in place in order to help in the “advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens”, with people belonging to the socially deprived groups or to minority groups such as the OBCs, SCs, STs and Muslims, being provided with reservation in educational institutions and government jobs.

There is no doubt about the hard truth that even in today’s times when our nation has progressed economically and technologically, we still need the reservation system in order to bring the discriminated sections of the society on equal grounds. However, this system too comes with its own set of problems.

The pivotal question being raised to the government time and again is, whether reservation on the basis of one’s caste is justified or not, given that mostly its people belonging to economically secure families who benefit from such a reservation policy. However, on the other hand, a person who belongs to the general category and has no means to avail an opportunity, does not benefit from the reservation system since he does not belong to any of the backward classes. Thus, we not only need a reservation system in order to protect the interests of the discriminated classes, but also need it for people who belong to economically weak background irrespective of the caste they belong to.

We are not trying to say that the backward classes should not be given reservation. However, we need to review the reservation policy and reestablish it on the grounds of providing reservation to people who come from extremely poor and economically weaker backgrounds. No advancement takes place if we provide reservation to a person belonging to a backward class who comes from an equally good economic background availing the same set of opportunities as his general category counterpart.

Although the vision of having a reservation system was indeed noble, we need to reconsider it and reshape it in such a manner that the people who have been truly denied opportunities and have faced instances of discrimination on the basis of their caste and economic background benefit from the policy.

Reservation system is a controversial issue. Most of the people belonging to the general category look at it from the perspective of belonging to privileged classes, who have yet not witnessed the atrocities committed against people even today in the name of class and caste. It is people like these, who have suffered because of the caste division and people who have been denied basic opportunities such as a decent education because of lack of economic resources who need reservation.