BOMBAY -- The United States has long been divided over what it calls "affirmative action," a system of racial preferences intended to overcome the lingering consequences of slavery and discrimination against black Americans. India is now becoming divided in much the same way, and for much the same reason -- the emerging system of "reserved places" aimed at redressing centuries of caste discrimination.
India's good intentions, like America's affirmative action policies, are misguided. The underlying question is whether merit as a criterion for advancement is doomed when legacies of racial and caste discrimination exist. Are those who agitate for affirmative action fighting for something that is more a quack remedy than a real solution?
In fact, India's "reserved places" scheme operates as a deliberate smoke screen, for it allows the government cleverly to mask the real issue, which is access to primary education for India's disadvantaged.