Quotas on the learning curve

Whatever the provenance of the recipient of affirmative action - whether caste, tribe, or, the latest innovation, economic situation - neither tool is truly empowering or socially transformative

The misgivings raised by the “Forwards Quota” Bill, which was moved and passed by the Lok Sabha on the same day with a 323-to-3 majority, has highlighted like never before the dichotomies in the debate over job and education quotas that have festered since the 1950s. Affirmative action in a country steeped in societal injustices is an unexceptionable value. But it is worth wondering whether the “top-down” approach that has long prevailed — ever-escalating quotas in government jobs and for admission in government-owned or –aided institutes of higher education — is the practical way to go about it.
 

Whatever the