Srinagar, May 1 -- By Sahil Parray

India's reservation system began with a moral purpose that commanded broad respect.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar envisioned it as a constitutional instrument that could repair centuries of exclusion and open doors that caste, poverty, geography, and social discrimination had kept shut.

Reservation emerged as a bridge into public life for communities denied access to education, jobs, and state power.

That vision still holds immense value.

Millions of Indians entered universities, government offices, and professional institutions because the Constitution recognized that equality on paper means little when society begins with unequal foundations.

A serious problem now confronts that vision, especially in Jammu a...