CASTE RESERVATION FABRIC NEEDS NEW PATTERN

"Begin at the beginning, the king said, very gravely, and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

- PRABHU CHAWLA

FOR millenniums, caste has been cast in stone in the Indian psyche. Ironically, the legacy of discrimination was carried forward when India became a democracy, muddying the pristine playground of liberation.

The social pyramid was turned on its head and generous generations scrambled up the ladder of power as a genetic journey to pelf. It also allowed uninterrupted caste-led parivarvaad to thrive without facing challenges.

The legacy of the bloodlines of India's rich and powerful in politics and bureaucracy sustains the system. However, a Supreme Court ruling last week could derail the gravy train. The current katzenjammer on caste—in parliament, elections and institutions—agitated a seven-member Constitution bench of the top court. Four of them led by Justice B R Gavai felt that castebased reservations are meritocratic, nor bureaucratic or plutocratic.