Graduation? Reservation. Post-graduation? Reservation. Job? Reservation. Promotion? Reservation. Finally, a family is settled — and the cycle continues: kids’ college? Reservation. Kids’ jobs? Reservation.
This is not policy. This is a generational machine, a system that claims to help but often becomes an endless joke. Decades of reservation have created a country where merit is optional, paperwork is mandatory, and opportunity is inherited like a family heirloom.
From political posts to panchayat seats, from hostels to libraries, from scholarships to government schemes — reservation creeps into every corner of life, creating dependency, entitlement, and resentment simultaneously.
1. education from Start to Finish
Graduation, post-graduation, and professional degrees — reserved seats dominate almost every level of higher education, often sidelining merit in favor of paperwork or category quotas.
2. Jobs and Promotions
Once someone enters the workforce, reservations don’t stop. Promotions, transfers, and benefits are filtered through quota-based lenses rather than performance or competence.
3. politics and Panchayats
Reservation in political offices ensures representation, but often results in positions going to individuals based on caste rather than leadership skills or vision.
4. Public Schemes and Welfare
Government schemes, scholarships, hostels, and even social benefits are often distributed with reservations at the center, creating a cycle of dependency instead of empowerment.
5. Heights, sports, and Beyond
India has even seen quotas in height requirements, sports teams, and cultural representation, turning every metric of achievement into a potential “reservation” target.
6. The cycle Repeats Across Generations
Children inherit the quota benefits automatically. Merit takes a back seat, while entitlement passes from parent to child like a family business.
7. Meritocracy vs. Social Engineering
While reservations were initially meant to uplift marginalized communities, decades of overreach have blurred the line between social justice and social engineering — often penalizing the most capable and rewarding paperwork over performance.
8. The Hidden Cost
The real tragedy is not just unfairness. It’s lost potential — talented students, employees, and leaders sidelined because the system favors inherited advantages over skill, effort, or innovation.
👉 Reservation is not just a policy — it’s become a perpetual lifecycle in India. What was meant to empower has, in many cases, created entitlement, inequality, and generational stagnation. Meritocracy has been pushed to the sidelines, while the reservation cycle marches on, decade after decade.
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