Stop caste-based reservations!

What's starting in the form of student revolts at some locations in the country is a clear indication of the things that are going to come - that of caste per se coming to the foreground of our society. Which is why I say: Stop reservations based on caste.

It's always been a mixed feeling for me until now. Being a guy who doesn't come under any reservation category, I've suffered. And seen people getting far less marks getting into a medical college even as I was refused entry despite being one of the district toppers et al in the medical entrance examination. It was painful. Totally. But then, life has probably been like this for years for people who are under-privileged, the ones who've been barred by 'us', and they certainly deserve to enjoy the fruits of democracy as much as we do.

Govt. certainly has to do something about those people. But not reservations based on caste. It just doesn't surve the purpose. As far as my experience goes, most of these reservations are used by city-bred students who have education similar to that of the other non-reservation class students. Not only that, they most likely have at least one of their parents working in Govt. institutions, and more often than not, their parents would've enjoyed reservations when they grew up. Providing reservations to these people is nothing but punishing meritocracy. And why on earth would someone be given reservations in PG courses after enjoying the same from schools to undergraduate courses? It beats me alright.

I don't really have a solution to this problem, but I know caste based reservations are not the way to go. And I think it is totally dumb to reserve seats in post graduation institutions and the ones like the IITs and IIMs. These institutions operate on the basis of input-control - they are regarded the best because they choose the best and not because they mold students into the best. Allowing non-merit based entry into these institutions is tantamount to cheating people who place trust on these institutions.

The other problem with caste-based reservations is there is a mighty good chance that students of people who got benifited decades back again get the same benefit, which is unacceptable by any stretch of imagination.

However, the biggest problem is the division it would cause in the society. It's not uncommon to see students forming groups based on caste inside colleges. It's sad but it happens even in RECs, IITs and the IIMs. The last thing we need is such segregations happening more explicitly and in large scale everywhere. It would be a precursor to a society that identifies itself primarily by caste. I'm not sure if anybody wants it.

To sum up:

1) Stop caste-based reservations in post graduation courses and IITs/IIMs.
2) Govt. should not provide reservations to students whose parents got benefited through an earlier generation of reservations.
3) I don't think reservations based on economic status is impossible. It may not be feasible in the near future, but it is something that can truly be aspired for in the long term (10-20 years?), instead of plugging in an ill-planned so-called solution in the name of reservtions based on caste.