Quota+Systems

(Aniket Kotnis and Premal Shelat)
 * Role of Existing Quota Systems**

Reservation in Indian law is a form of affirmative action whereby a percentage of seats are reserved in the for the socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or the Scheduled Castes and Tribes who are perceived by the Government to be inadequately represented in these services and institutions (“Reservation in India” Wikipedia: The Free Encylcopedia).

The central government of India reserves 27% of government jobs and places in higher education, but certain Indian states like Tamil Nadu follows this caste based reservation since 1921 and currently reserves 69% seats.

The main type of reservation is caste reservation. Places are set aside for Dalits (Castes) and Adivasis (Tribes). Caste reservations allow people who would not receive a higher education to receive one. Normally, a poor member of a minority does not have much of a chance of attending a good university. But with the quota system, some they get the opportunity that they would otherwise never have had. As Firoz Vohra, a driver, said (Translated from Hindi), “When I was in school, I didn’t think that getting an education would help me as there was a very small chance of me getting into a good college. This was one of the factors which influenced my decision to drop out of school. Today’s youths from minorities are lucky as they have the chance to go to a good college as a result of the quota system.”

Critics of the quota system in General: Many people believe that reservations are used by politicians to gain votes from those who benefit from them. It has often been said that the reservations are unfair and those receiving do not need to aid as they are in a strong position. There is also the argument that giving a student who has not achieved the required results in their exams a place in some of the premier institutions in India will compromise the reputation and quality of these institutions.

Students: Students feel that reservations are preventing them from going making it into good colleges. They believe that setting aside 27% percent of seats in schools to be completely unfair. Getting into a good school should be based completely on merit. There is no need to reserve seats in the best institutions in India. “Getting higher education is enough for people who likely would not have received any otherwise. Why should they get places into premier institutions such as IIT when they have not achieved the required marks (grades) in their exams?” says Shreyas Dole, a student who was rejected by IIT.

Works cited:

Education of Indian Scheduled Tribes: a study of community schools in the district of Vishakhapatnam. UNESCO Education. 13 Nov. 2007. <[|http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001202/120281e.pdf>.]

Quota for Muslims: SC to hear petition. Rediff News. 28 Nov. 2007. 

Reservation in India. Wikimedia. 16 Nov. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservation_in_India

Education Gives, quota takes away. 27 Nov. 2007. 

Caste matters in Indian Media. 03 Dec. 2007 

Just how many OBC’s are there? 02 Dec. 2007 

Vohra, Firoz. Personal Interview. 27 Nov. 2007.

Dole, Shreyas. Personal Interview. 28 Nov. 2007.