Caste based reservation policy of India

People in general fall into a variety of social groups that might be earned, such as a career, or inherited, such as gender. being a part of a group satisfies our need, as human beings, to belong and be accepted, it defines a sense of our social and self-identity. The effects of social categorization can often be apparent not just in the dynamics of social relationships, but also in how social status is represented.  The caste system establishes a hierarchy of social roles with intrinsic features that, more significantly, remain constant throughout one's lifetime. Caste has an underlying status, which has historically shifted from social roles to inherited roles. This resulted in inherited status hierarchies with limited social mobility. The caste system paved way for social evils like untouchability, discrimination, and slavery among many others.

India had a strong caste-based hierarchical system in place, it still has a caste-based system but it isn't as strong as it was before, with the upper caste enjoying the majority of the privileges and the lower caste being looked down upon. The majority of the population belonged to the lower classes, who were denied better social, educational, economic, and political prospects. In other words, there was no social justice.

Social justice means equal rights and equitable opportunities for all. In a society where the system is based on a social scale and supremacy, the need for equality and equity emerges. However, social justice assures that everyone in society has equal chances in all areas, including social, economic, and political ones. But establishing equality, and providing similar opportunities is not an aid for the condition. For equality to be meaningful for the weak, some concessions and benefits need to be offered for them to rise up to a level that is on par with others.

Hence, reservations were introduced in the Indian constitution shortly after independence as a means of acknowledging the past injustice caused to the people belonging to backward groups and enacting rules that would provide them with better access to resources as well as opportunities and eventually uplift them economically and socially. They ensure that citizens of India from all castes are represented equally in government services at both the state and federal levels. Reservation gives chance for equal opportunities and advances the underprivileged.