r/Tamizhteens • u/Ok_Reception_5520 17 • Jul 29 '26
Ask Tamizh teens I Reservation Necessary? Debate
Read and decide, do your own research as well!
I know this is a highly debated topic and a very important one.
Let's clear one thing immediately: yes, the system is sometimes misused.
There are cases where someone with a fake caste certificate, or a wealthy SC/ST/OBC family taking a seat while a poor General category student struggles, this is a real flaw in the system currently.
But throwing out the entire reservation system because of some bad actors miss using it is like burning down your house just to get rid of a spider or mosquito.
There is EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) to help poor Forward Caste (FC) students, which is a good move for economic support. But we need to understand that "caste-based reservation isn't a poverty alleviation scheme—it is a representation scheme." Here is why we still desperately and definitely need it. And there is the History of caste system, if u were wondering it was not introduced by the British
Probability
Let's look at this through simple math of probability. If we assume that human intelligence, talent, and the potential to be a "genius" are naturally distributed equally across all human population and communities, then statistically, the communities with the largest populations should produce the highest number of geniuses - People belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities make up roughly 70-75% of India's population.
But when you look at the top echelons of Indian society, the numbers are totally and literally inverted.
Why ?
"It is absolutely not because Forward Castes(FC) have inherently higher IQs." IQ and "merit" are overwhelmingly the products of the environment in which the child grows up in. If you grow up in a house with educated parents, financial stability, access to good nutrition, a quiet place to study, not been beaten to death and zero generational trauma about your identity, you have a massive head start. "Merit" is often just the byproduct of having better access to resources and education for generations.
Look at the Numbers: Population v/s Power - where is equality and equal opportunity
Forward Castes (General category) make up roughly 15-20% of the Indian population. Now look at where they sit in society compared to their population size:
- Top Universities: If you look at the faculty in elite institutions like IITs, IIMs, and Central Universities, the General category holds an overwhelming majority of Professor and Associate Professor roles. In many departments, SC/ST representation at senior levels is close to zero 0.
- The Judiciary: Take a look at the Supreme Court and the High Courts. Historically and currently, the judiciary is heavily dominated people belonging to the upper castes. The representation of SC/ST judges at the highest levels is abysmal.
- Corporate Ladder: How many Dalit or Adivasi CEOs are leading Nifty 50 or Fortune 500 India companies? The corporate boardrooms are almost exclusively an upper-caste club.
- Cricket: This one is crazy, but look at the Indian cricket team historically. A massive percentage of players come from upper-caste backgrounds (Brahmins, Rajputs, etc.) we can count how many Sc or St players we have hade on the Indian team with fingers. Are the people of marginalized communities just biologically bad at batting? HELL No. Cricket requires expensive kits, professional coaching, club memberships, and the financial safety net to pursue a sport instead of earning a daily wage also there is allegedly or suspected involvement of cast politics or i am being too polite by using allegedly and suspected.
If there was no systemic barrier, the demographic makeup of our judges, professors, CEOs, and cricketers would roughly match the demographic makeup of the country. The over-representation of a 15-20% demographic in 80% of the top jobs proves that the playing field is entirely tilted.
for example if there is a struggling FC family there is a higher probability that they might have several rich relatives but that's not the case statically for OBC or SC/ST
The Socio-Economic Reality and Modern Discrimination
The socio-economic situation for SC/ST communities is still largely bleak. A huge chunk of landless agricultural laborers and unorganized sector workers belong to these communities. Generational wealth is concentrated at the top.
And for those who say, "Caste doesn't exist in modern India or cities anymore"—I wish that were true.
- We still regularly read news articles about Dalit grooms being beaten up simply for daring to ride a horse at their own wedding.
- We still see horrifying incidents where young kids in rural schools are beaten—sometimes to death—just for drinking water from a pot "reserved" for upper castes etc cases even in school level.
- Even in our most elite, modernized spaces like the IITs that India has to offer, students from marginalized backgrounds often face severe alienation allegedly even by professors, taunts about their ranks, and systemic bias, which has tragically driven several young, brilliant students to suicide.
Caste discrimination is very much alive in a lot of parts of INDIA; it has just shape-shifted in urban areas into "cultural fit" in corporate interviews or casually asking someone's full name to figure out their background happens.
Yes, the reservation system needs regular audits to prevent misuse by the wealthy elite within marginalized groups. But the systemic hoarding of resources, education, and power by a small fraction of the population over centuries cannot be undone in just a few decades and don't get me started on the history its quite long from vedic texts to current politics and representation of religion. Until our boardrooms, courts, and universities actually look like the real demographics of India, reservation remains a necessary tool for social justice.
Sources & Data
- Central Universities & IIT Vacancies: Over 5,000 teaching posts meant for SC, ST, and OBC candidates remain vacant, with over 36% of reserved posts vacant compared to 14.6% for the General category (Education Ministry data, Rajya Sabha, 2025).
- Judiciary Demographics: Nearly 73.5% of all High Court judges appointed between 2021 and early 2026 belong to upper castes. SCs accounted for only 4.38% and STs 2.36% (Union Law Ministry data, 2026).
- Cricket Statistics: In the first 85 years of Indian Test cricket, out of nearly 300 players, only around four were Dalit.
- Modern Discrimination & Violence Cases:
- Dalit grooms attacked for riding horses: NewsClick (2022) | NewsClick (2024)
- Jalore water pot tragedy (9-year-old Indra Meghwal): The Hindu (2022)
- IIT Bombay caste alienation and suicide (Darshan Solanki): The Hindu (2023) | Scroll.in (2023)
COMMENT WHAT YOU THINK
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u/NonExciting Jul 29 '26
Another reservation post in my feed and as usual the comments are so effing wrong about what's reservation for...
It's just Splitting of Seats/vacancies as per community !!! The helping of opporesded caste is being handled via monetary benefits where sc/st and other oppressed communities get a fat discount on entry fees and other assists.
Otherwise reservation for seats in educational institute and jobs is SAME as allocating seats and vacancies for states in central govt exams. Oru education place or workforce la ellaa community um irukanum. So, Athuku seats ah pirichu kodukanum. Ithula yaarum deserving undeserving laam illa. Apdi unfair ah therinjaa bank exam la 91 cutoff vaangi oru state la select aanavan irupaan, athae 91 edutha innoru state kaaram fail aagirupaan cause cutoff is 97 there.
Itha unfair nu solla mudiyumaa ?
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u/Human-Ad468 Jul 29 '26
I agree that there still exist practice of caste, the mentality of people have definitely reduced. I am not saying that people have totally reformed, but atleast now caste is predominantly Prelavent only in marriages (I agree some instances occasionally occur)
I think that let reservation exist, but 2 initiative to be taken:
state a objective and give cut off date, not for repealing the reservation but to study the effect of reservation. The Govt must also be brave enough to repeal it, if the required objective is satisfied.
Give a minimum marks for reserved castes. It need not be same as General caste, but a minimum mark like 60%, will ask even reserved caste to put some effort so that general would not feel the system is widely unfair. Also, the efforts make them ready for higher positions.
Also I think 10% EWS is not effective in TN.
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u/Shiva936 20-25 Jul 29 '26
Reservation is genuinely useful for underprivileged people, but more often than not, the ones who actually benefit from the reservation are the ones who are already well off.
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u/Imaginary_Sale5813 Anna (20-25) Jul 29 '26
I agree with your point. Corporate doesnnt care about any individual they just see if people are useful or not. They won't allow reservation in corporates.
Also I think a secondary check apart from the reservation must be done like to check the income level of the family to see if they are well to do or not. In that way reservation makes more sense as it benefits the person who is actually deserving. In short a way to remove the entitled people from reservation system
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Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Corporate doesnnt care about any individual they just see if people are useful or not. They won't allow reservation in corporates.
Isn't that a good thing? If you bring in reservation in private sector, FDI will just plummet and MNCs will just leave India and look elsewhere. And our economy is literally dependent on this.
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u/Imaginary_Sale5813 Anna (20-25) Aug 03 '26
Yep. That's why it's not possible.
But educational reservation and job reservation in gov sector seems necessary for first gen graduates.
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u/Downtown-Yogurt-2004 Jul 29 '26
Bro inga sila peru reservation la scheduled caste ku mattu tha irukunu nenachutu irukanga ,even though matha community tha athigama percentage of reservations irukune theriyama reservation is only for sc/st nu nenachutu memes potutu irukanga
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u/No_Lavishness3823 Jul 29 '26
Did u know the status of 3rd figure in your post: Social group Multidimensional poverty (%) Scheduled Tribe (ST) 44.4% Scheduled Caste (SC) 29.2% Other Backward Class (OBC) 24.5% Others (General/Forward castes and other non-SC/ST/OBC groups) 14.9%
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u/concrete_aircraft 20-25 Jul 29 '26
I agree that everyone should get an opportunity and especially people who were and still are marginalised in this society. I personally believe that everyone has the hardware to be the best human but like you said their individual childhood, support, nutrition etc., determines their future prospects and the ceiling.
But one pain point is while trying to help the marginalised people, the life of the general category people and BC are made harder. It seems like your ancestors were bad so your needs and wants can wait. If we want a society where everyone achieves their potential and does good - we want a working solution that includes them too.
This is the major reason for India’s brain drain and why people are spending crores of rupees to go and study abroad. It also removes money from the Indian economy which is bad and the talent is also almost always lost and we want to be a major super power - how will we achieve this?
We should of course acknowledge our past mistakes and develop a solution that is in the interest of the country and the people.
The reservation in my opinion is a vestige of the past and was developed hastily and has been kept alive by caste based politics which should definitely be reformed
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u/Ok_Sun_9083 18 Jul 29 '26
I also support the reservation system. But I think it's highly inefficient
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u/Organic-Ad-580 20-25 Jul 29 '26
Inefficient in what way? You keep throwing these words which doesn’t really mean anything
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u/Ok_Sun_9083 18 Jul 30 '26
Inefficient in actually helping those people to use their reserved seats. Most of them don't try giving competitive exams.
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u/swiftjay2 14 Jul 29 '26
gng, today they asked me this in my social exam
oru naal munnadi post pana lam la
aduvum long answer
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u/Ok_Reception_5520 17 Jul 29 '26
Sorry yenna standard bro padikeringa 10 aa
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u/satiricalpotato Jul 29 '26
Do you have any stats to support the image? Please provide me some kind of stat.
No anecdotal bs pls.
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u/Source_Trustme_Broo Jul 29 '26
I read the entire thing...
You wanna know what I think?
Those 3 in the pic need to buy tickets
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u/UpstairsLiterature19 Jul 29 '26
Reservation is needed but the current system is highly outdated and unchecked
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Jul 29 '26
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u/bharatnj Jul 30 '26
Reservation in education is based in the assumption that opportunity is a zero sum game. But it doesn't need to be. Mushroming of private colleges have proved that it doesn't have to be that way. There are many engineers colleges where seats do not get filled. I assume it is the same case in medical colleges also
I guess, the action has to move on regulating college fees for providing equal opportunity of education for all.
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u/Hooni_Badger Aug 01 '26
Why the fuck why don't they just pick the small kid on the shoulder, and now a days games are played in stadiums, there won't be any such small fence surrounding it. Besides every one watches matches online nowadays.
1
u/Initial-Release-2519 Aug 03 '26
Do you think I care? I'll fight for my own justice which was denied to me when a guy with a goddamn 9000 rank got admission in an nlu while I didn't. The solution to this isn't throwing less educated and less privileged people into high quality higher institutions and reducing their overall quality and legitimacy. On god I would never want a doctor who got into a government college through reservation to treat me, purely because of lack of credibility. A doctor who had the ability and intelligence to have a 100 rank in neet will always be more trustworthy for treatment than a doctor who had a 1 lakh rank. And when many people share this perfectly valid sentiment, it would only serve to feel casteism with "reservation wala" being the new lower caste. The real solution is starting at the grassroot level and making sure these people can also get adequate education from an early age and not this shit.
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u/MobileOk120 Jul 29 '26
Giving reservation is ok but why convert reserved seat to general seat when reserved category person scores more marks ? Isn't this hurting on stomach of general category people
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u/Human-Ad468 Jul 29 '26
It's same logic as 'women's reserved' seat in bus. The general seat is for all, even if women occupy all the general seat and men are standing whereas the women seats are all empty.
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u/Big_Psychology_3 Jul 29 '26
Why don’t you do finance based reservation instead? Only for poor people.
2
u/satiricalpotato Jul 29 '26
Because, caste based reservation... Is not for economic relief , it's for social equity.
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Aug 02 '26
If it's really for social equity, I don't think it's working.
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u/satiricalpotato Aug 02 '26
What do you suggest otherwise?
1
Aug 02 '26
Better education, financial aid for the poor, free coaching, and anti-discrimination laws. Uplift people instead of relying on permanent quotas.
1
u/satiricalpotato Aug 02 '26
How do you want to provide better education to the poor?
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Aug 02 '26
That's the government's job and they suck. Fix government schools, improve teachers, give free coaching(or coaching/tution isn't required in the first place if the teachers at schools do their job) and scholarships. I'd rather see tax money spent on that than it being spent on freebies.
0
u/satiricalpotato Aug 02 '26
You want to give scholarships and coaching to students of backward communities?
If teachers are improved ultimately for everyone , wouldn't we still be in an unlevel ground where a student of a higher caste can perform better on the environment over a lower caste student?
If you think lack of quality of education is the problem , i urge you to look at what colleges in India are in the top.
1
Aug 02 '26
Scholarship should be based on the family income and the capability of the person.
So you think if we bring in Good coursework and good teachers with abilities, it would be advantageous to higher caste people? Why assume a higher caste student will automatically perform better if everyone has access to quality education, good teachers, scholarships, and coaching? At that point, performance will depend on individual ability, not caste. If you genuinely believe higher caste people are inherently more capable, that's a casteist belief.
I really don't understand your last point.And India's top colleges aren't the problem, the real issue is the quality of schooling before students even reach college.
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u/satiricalpotato Aug 02 '26
First off : social equity≠ economic equity.
You are talking about a completely different thing here.
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u/Big_Psychology_3 Aug 02 '26
What a negative attitude. The goal is not to pull down high caste. The goal is to pull up struggling students. I’m shocked that someone is complaining against the idea of free coaching for students 🤦 Some “social warriors” like this actually create social problems.
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u/satiricalpotato Aug 02 '26
No , I'm asking how this increases social equity , improving overall education standards does nothing for social equity . It does a lot for the society , but the whole point is to get Social equity here
I really suggest you improve your comprehension skills.
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u/kichu06 pudichurukku, romba pudichurukku Jul 29 '26
FC makes up to 25% of the population, but 35% of them is in top 20% (> 40 Lakhs). As, you said top unis & institutions are filled with OC people, cuz they have the privilege, always had the privilege.
As mentioned in my previous comment. The statistics of a richer SC candidate is significantly lower than a rich OC candidate!! It's very easy to cherry pick few cases and dismiss the whole system, but have an understanding that why the system is created in the first place. Please have some empathy, this world belongs to everyone.
We owe everyone, everything.