Reservation and the quiet crisis of hope

Merit is not an absolute. Philosophers from Aristotle to John Rawls have reminded us that fairness must account for context, for inequality, for the burdens of birth. But merit must at least remain a possibility, an open door through which talent and perseverance can pass. In Jammu and Kashmir, a system of reservation that, while designed to help some, has left the majority feeling trapped, their aspirations quietly suffocated.

Once, open merit meant hope. Half the seats in government jobs, university programs, and professional streams were open to anyone who could prove their ability. Now, those seats have been reduced to around 40 percent, and when horizontal reservations are factored in, aspirants whisper bitterly that the “real share” for general category students is closer to 30 percent.

Examinations that were once a test of knowledge now feel like a lottery where birth and category matter more than ability. In 2023, for example, 71 candidates passed the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service examination. Only 29 belonged to the general category. The rest were drawn from reserved quotas, dashing the hopes of aspirants from Open Merit category and compelling them to choose other options.

Some seek escape, moving to distant cities in search of a fairer system. But for those who remain, the waiting itself is endless with no known outcomes. Moreover, the reservation policy is uneven. Jammu districts have received the majority of reserved category certificates, while Kashmir has remained on the periphery. A student in Kashmir faces both fewer open merit seats and limited access to reserved opportunities.

The psychological toll is heavy. Students report exhaustion, loss of motivation, and creeping despair. In educational institutions, some lose focus, skip sessions, or stop attending altogether. In villages, parents watch their children withdraw, their youthful energy curbed by a system that seems indifferent to effort. The most heartbreaking consequence is the slow erosion of belief in opportunity.

The intention of the reservation has always been to correct historical injustices, to lift communities that have been sidelined for generations.

It was designed to bring justice to those historically deprived of education and employment. Without it, many would never have the chance to compete. There are compelling stories of success due to reservation. For instance, a Bakarwal nomadic boy whose certificate allowed him to pursue higher studies he could never have dreamed of. These stories matter.

And yet, in its current form, the reservation has inadvertently sidelined some.

To prevent a good initiative from being reduced to an outlier, the Supreme Court of India in “Indra Sawhney & Others vs. Union of India” also known as the Mandal verdict, ruled in 1992 that reservations could not exceed 50 percent. Going beyond this threshold, the Court ruled, would infringe on the constitutional promise of equal opportunity.

In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the recent amendment in the J&K Reorganisation Act, giving a 10% quota to the Paharis and increasing the OBC quota to 8% has taken the reserved percentage to 70% for only 30% of the population, leaving only a mere 30% for the 70% of the Open Merit segment of the population.

This shrinking of opportunity for job aspirants in the open merit category is in addition to the existing burden of lack of jobs and spiraling unemployment in recent years as J&K held the third spot on the list of highest unemployment rates in India at an alarming 23.1% as per the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in 2022.

Youth unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir is among the highest in India, estimated at over 23 percent. With few private-sector jobs and limited opportunities in the public sector, competition is fierce.

Jammu and Kashmir’s youth have lived with curfews, strikes, and political uncertainty. Education was their refuge. Now, as opportunities shrink, the refuge itself feels under threat. A generation finds itself suspended between hope and futility, between ambition and the arbitrary limits of a system that claims fairness but often fails to deliver it.

The solutions are not easy, but they are possible. Expanding opportunities beyond government jobs, promoting entrepreneurship, and encouraging private-sector growth would reduce the zero-sum nature of competition. Refining the reservation system through sub-categorisation or socio-economic surveys could ensure that benefits reach the most disadvantaged rather than concentrating among the relatively better-off within reserved categories.

Above all, restoring open merit to at least 50 percent would signal that effort, diligence, and skill still have a place in Jammu and Kashmir. Not as charity, but as fairness.

Hope will last as long as merit lasts. Once merit is starved, the forest of aspiration dies. As Albert Camus once reflected, “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.” In these young students, that invincible summer endures, a hope that refuses to die, even when the world seems to reserve opportunity for all but them.