Aarakshan: ignored an important issue of reservations

The movie Aarakshan conveniently ignored IMO the most important issue plaguing reservations, since it was inconvenient to the narrative & to the conclusion.

In my experience, wealthy reserved candidates were the beneficiaries of the quota. There was the odd struggling candidate with whom everyone sympathized & helped and no one grudged their getting in.

The wealthy candidates get a great deal. They have great resources at their disposal: tutorials & study books. They have a much lower cut-off for prime institutions & courses. They went through the IITs & IIMs with lesser cut-off marks & are very well placed & successful in their careers. And no, they don't give up their benefit for the really deserving brethren.

The govt keeps trying to avoid implementation of the creamy layer. Fake certificates to avoid the creamy layer tag are easily obtainable by paying a bribe. While the pro-reservation organizations are more vigilant about tracking down fake caste certificates, they choose to ignore the creamy layer violations.

I have a simple solution. Implement & enforce economic criteria. The really poor & struggling people across the board, who are desperate, will benefit. And the really backward castes who really struggle for a living, such as the kids of cobblers, maids etc will form the majority of the economically deprived class & they will benefit the most.

It is absolutely a travesty of justice when the economically & socially advantageous get all their benefits at the cost of their brethren who really deserve it.