Nowadays most young people of this country may not discriminate on the basis of birth, and people are beginning to see the irrelevance of caste in our modern-day lives. But the truth is, the baggage of our caste system is still very much with us. One may not see this glass ceiling in the bright lights of our metros but travel 30 km out in any direction away from these cities and we can find the caste barriers standing firm. The caste system prevalent for over three thousand years might be somewhat weakened but is still to be seen everywhere.

We still need a framework where those who have been socially and economically sidelined for centuries are able to visualise themselves as being capable enough of receiving the best of what our system has to offer. We can argue about the details of how much to reserve, what percentage, what is too much and what is right, but it is more important to understand the fundamental need and importance of such measures. We have to demonstrate by our actions that in this country a young student from a small town has a chance to sit and study with the best without having the cash or connections. The OBCs have now been given reservation in higher education. No one really knows what their actual numbers are, the last caste based census was conducted in 1931. But based on various indicators it is estimated that the OBCs constitute about 55 per cent or over half of our population. Clearly competition is immense; and given a situation where the chances of admission of a public school educated student in a city (backed by expensive tuition and coaching classes) are so slim, what is the possibility that those who have no access to such resources can actually get into a top institute?

... contd.