India’s reservation policy today suffers from a fundamental misdiagnosis. It attempts to correct inequality at the finish line—in the form of college admissions and jobs—while neglecting the starting line, where the roots of disparity lie. This approach has created a policy illusion: that genuine representation in elite institutions can be achieved simply through quotas, without confronting the real barriers that begin in early childhood and primary education.

Higher education is not the beginning of opportunity—it is its culmination. Admission into an IIT, IIM, AIIMS, or a top-tier company is not a random lottery; it is the outcome of a decade or more of cumulative advantage—access to good schooling, role models, a stable learning environment, and language fluency. Trying to level the field at this stage through reservation alone is like entering a relay race at the final lap, hoping to make up for lost ground without ever having trained.

As someone who has studied at IIT Bombay, I have seen this reality up close. At the point of entry, reservations may offer a foot in the door. But once inside, all students are held to the same academic expectations. The classroom does not distinguish between general and reserved category students; the curriculum does not bend to accommodate the gap in preparation. Everyone is evaluated on the same exams, assignments, and projects. In this environment, only those with strong foundational preparation thrive. I witnessed many reserved........

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