Backwards Vs Forwards: Too Many Quotas Are Bad For Bharat | Raag Yadava and Arghya Sengupta
November 11, 2022
NLS faculty member Raag Yadava has co-authored a piece titled “Backwards vs forwards: Too many quotas are bad for Bharat,” published in the TOI Editorial page on November 11, 2022. The article reflects on how reservations carries the risk of chopping away at the public sphere into narrow sectarian slices.
The piece is co-authored by Arghya Sengupta (NLS BA LLB 2008), Research Director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, and Raag Yadava (NLS BA LLB 2013), Assistant Professor at NLSIU.
Excerpts:
The 103rd Constitution Amendment, which authorises reservation in educational institutions and jobs for persons belonging to economically weaker sections of society, was upheld earlier this week by the Supreme Court. As a result of this decision, there will now be two reservation tracks – one based on caste and backwardness, the other on poverty and economic criteria. This is a watershed moment in India’s reservation story.
In social policy, reservation of seats in legislatures, universities and jobs is viewed as a tool available to governments to empower backward communities and groups. In this sense, it is like a targeted subsidy or a welfare scheme. In India however, reservation is not just another ordinary tool – it has a particular historical salience.
Read the full article in the print version here OR
Read the online article here (Full text available here).
