India, Aug. 25 -- The institutions once created to democratise opportunity are increasingly beginning to resemble marketplaces. The question India must now confront is uncomfortable: when education becomes a privilege that only the affluent can comfortably afford, what happens to the promise of merit, mobility and equal opportunity?

The recent agitation at Jantar Mantar, Jharkhand, and in many other states over paper leaks has shaken the conscience of the nation. The spark ignited by the unwarranted UGC guidelines dividing students and the country along caste lines was overtaken by the paper leak controversy and put the country into utter turmoil, which was exploited by anti-national forces, as in previous two agitations. The recent poli...