Revisiting the Reservations Policy

Abstract

Reservation is by now an established social policy addressing issues of social inequality and marginalization of the numerous communities which, taken together, make up a majority of Indians. Over the years, however, many distortions have crept into the policy process. It is high time that these distortions are removed, as they have already begun to produce social and political consequences undermining the policy’s basic rationale. There is, therefore, an urgent need to review the working of the policy and adopt fresh administrative and legislative initiatives for bringing the policy back into achieving the larger and long-term goals it has been meant to serve.