Is the current reservation system for jobs or college admissions justified?

[Reply to a question by Nava Chaitanya during online Satsanga held on January 10, 2021] Swāmi replied: This is a question related to pravṛtti (worldly life) and has nothing to do with spiritual knowledge or nivṛtti. Reservation is done because certain sections of society are suffering due to poverty and age-old ignorance as a result of the long suppression by the more developed sections of society. Reservations are justified in order to encourage these suppressed sections. Reservations are justified in admissions and in giving all facilities free of cost to those people. But once the candidate is admitted to the college and once his disadvantage of economic backwardness is fully taken care of by the financial aid, the candidate should be expected to work hard and face the open competition. Only then will the candidate get serious about his or her academic development. If the candidate knows that there are reservations even in the jobs, the candidate will not be serious enough to develop and face the competition. Thus, by having job reservations, you are suppressing the candidate’s development, in another way. Then, the past history of suppression will only get repeated. Instead, give him all the facilities during the study period, but do not show the path of reservations in jobs to the student. If the student finds out that there are reservations also for jobs, he will take his studies lightly and will lose the motivation to work hard and develop himself.

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| Shri Datta Swami | Is the current reservation system for jobs or college admissions justified? | pravrutti pravritti nivrutti nivritti