Avoiding quota dystopia

It is time we tried different approaches before merit and talent are completely sidelined

- R JAGANNATHAN

India is on the cusp of embracing a I education and jobs quota system, driven by the While regional politicians and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have been trying to push India to count its castes with caste-based tensions foretold Supreme Court, in a recent judgment on reservations, has backed the idea of sub-quotas within quotas for the really backward within any category. Since this verdict comes with a warning to political parties that the judiciary will not accept any arbitrary creation of sub-quotas, it effectively mandates caste-based surveys.

The Supreme Court verdict will set the better-off sections among the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STS) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) against others in the same broad categories, since the mandate implies a reduction of opportunities for those castes that have so far benefited most from quotas. This will, in turn, generate intra-caste conflicts. Some Congress Dalit leaders like PL Punia and Kumari Selja are, in fact, calling for a constitutional amendment to nullify the Supreme Court verdict. Clearly, Rahul Gandhi's gambit can backfire on the party itself.

It is worth noting that the current conflict in Manipur was triggered by a judicial verdict last year that said Hindu Meiteis can also be designated as STs, which was violently opposed by the Kukis.

Now imagine the spread of such conflicts to SCs, STs, and OBCs in many states.