The Madras High Court recently made certain observations on the topic of reservation in higher education [RS Poorvi v. The Collector, Chennai].
In an order passed by Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayanan observed that, "Reservation in higher education has become a serious issue now. It has created differences between different sections of the society. Knowledgeable and deserving students are not able to avail the opportunity in education. However, students who could not make it to the merit but belong to the reserved category enjoy the opportunities. Due to this many students are unable to chase their dreams and get success. No doubt, it is true that the depressed and oppressed people should be given an opportunity for upliftment, without any compromise in quality in higher education. Similarly, merely persons are from forward community, but financially backward, their due place should not be denied on account of reservation, which is the object of introduction of EWS reservations." The Court ruled: "The petitioner, who is otherwise competent, is in financially disadvantageous position. The policy of the government is to give a push to such persons, who hail from the disadvantageous group. That is the reason why, it is made clear that the reservation not only include backward class, but also the financially backward people. Though the petitioner belongs to a forward community, as she is economically backward, even as per the policy of the government, she has to be given the certificate of economically weaker section, to enable her to pursue her higher education."