Indian society has been sharply divided across caste lines since time immemorial. Historically, a number of castes in the country had remained deprived of adequate opportunities - in terms of education and employment - to bring about a change in the socio-economic conditions of these classes. Practices such as untouchability kept the Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes of the country from claiming the economic growth that was due to them. The history of reservation goes back to the British Raj in some parts of the country. In erstwhile Madras Presidency, for example, the British had come under extreme local pressure and instituted a form of quota as far back as 1830. By the early 1900s the princely state of Mysore too had some form of quota for Dalits in the region (in educational institutions).
Post independence, in the 1960s, the idea of quotas or reservation came up as a method of introducing affirmative action for the socially disadvantaged classes. Well before the days of the Mandal commission, the idea of providing these backward castes adequate representation in higher education institutions and government jobs was floated. On and off protests had been breaking out in various parts of the country without any conclusive action on the part of the government. Then came the Mandal Commission of 1979 which recommended 27 percent reservation quota for castes classified as Other Backward Class (OBC). Anti-reservation protests wrecked the country leading up to the self-immolation of a number of students as well. Here is a look at the top quota agitations over the past few years.
Indian society has been sharply divided across caste lines since time immemorial. Historically, a number of castes in the country had remained deprived of adequate opportunities - in terms of education and employment - to bring about a change in the socio-economic conditions of these classes. Practices such as untouchability kept the Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes of the country from claiming the economic growth that was due to them. The history of reservation goes back to the British Raj in some parts of the country. In erstwhile Madras Presidency, for example, the British had come under extreme local pressure and instituted a form of quota as far back as 1830. By the early 1900s the princely state of Mysore too had some form of quota for Dalits in the region (in educational institutions).
Post independence, in the 1960s, the idea of quotas or reservation came up as a method of introducing affirmative action for the socially disadvantaged classes. Well before the days of the Mandal commission, the idea of providing these backward castes adequate representation in higher education institutions and government jobs was floated. On and off protests had been breaking out in various parts of the country without any conclusive action on the part of the government. Then came the Mandal Commission of 1979 which recommended 27 percent reservation quota for castes classified as Other Backward Class (OBC). Anti-reservation protests wrecked the country leading up to the self-immolation of a number of students as well. Here is a look at the top quota agitations over the past few years.
