In light of the Indian government's decision to introduce further caste based quotas in institutues of higher education to the tune of 27% for the "Other Backward Classes" (In addition to the 22.5% already enjoyed by Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribe communities), a prominent Indian academic asks the question - Is Caste the sole exploitative factor in Indian society ? Are there no other indices of deprivement, such as Economic Factors, gender, status of a first generation learner, type of schooling etc ?



Prof. Purushottam Agrawal of the Jawaharlal Nehru University has proposed a new and comprehensive system of affirmative action called MIRAA - Multiple Index Related Affirmative Action. This system takes into account not just the caste but also economic deprivation, status of a first generation learner, gender, region and type of schooling into account when deciding if a candidate to a job/educational institution should get the benefits of Affirmative Action and to what extent.



MIRAA is a flexible system, doing away with "quotas" or percentages -- it effectively brings all available seats within the ambit of "social justice through affirmative action" and simultenously does not sacrifice on "merit" or achievement.



Read more at Prof. Agrawal's official website:

http://www.purushottamagrawal.com or here



MIRAA can also be accessed directly at http://www.purushottamagrawal.com/miraa.html



Read, discuss and invite others to read the article - its time the Government of India stopped looking at 'easy' solutions and actually came up with a viable system of social justice that actually delivers ...



All comments/FEEDBACK /criticism welcome. Direct it to Prof. Agrawal using the FEEDBACK form on the website.

MIRAA