Reservations about quotas

They can be self-defeating in the new economic paradigm

The Supreme Court decision to review its landmark 1992 judgment on job quotas, known as the Indra Sawhney case, could be a key opportunity to revisit the assumptions on which reservations are based. This review is to be part of a challenge to a Maharashtra law providing quotas for the Marathas in jobs and admissions to educational institutions. The quotas will breach the 50 per cent ceiling originally set by the Supreme Court. This is an important review because it will determine whether the states have the powers to determine socially and economically backward castes — the Constitution vests the