It is possible, of course, to shrug this problem away by saying that since the PDS runs despite forged ration cards and welfare schemes, despite fake muster rolls, forged caste certificates will be no more system-busting than these other paper frauds on social justice. There are two problems with this argument. First, one of the reasons the PDS and welfare schemes are in such a mess is wrong beneficiary selection. Thousands of crores of public money have been wasted on good causes backed by bad logic. This is nothing to shrug off. Indeed, there’s a very good reason to go back to the drawing board and look at some of the fundamental principles of social policy.

The second reason forged caste identities can’t be dismissed as another usual Indian vice is that these pieces of easily obtainable paper make the point sadly few have done in the quota debate: the assumption of total congruence between deprivation and caste has been questioned authoritatively but to absolutely no effect as far as political action has been concerned. As this newspaper has always argued, as opinion polls published in this newspaper have conclusively shown, a great majority of the better-off wants targeted action for the socially disadvantaged—people are just not sure that caste is the right marker. As caste identity becomes increasingly purchasable, those doubts will grow.