Social justice discourse in India revolves around issues of identity assertion, caste consciousness, and reservation in education and employment — themes that were critically needed at one point and remain relevant even today. However, there is also a need to bring innovation into the social justice discourse.

Reports suggest that reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), though constitutionally implemented on 26 January 1950, were not effectively enforced. From the 1950s to the 1980s, governments took no serious measures to ensure the upliftment of socially and educationally backward classes, despite it being a matter linked to fundamental rights. The Kaka Kalelkar Committee submitted its report on socio-economically backward classes in 1956, but its recommendations were never implemented.

Actually, the era of Nehruvian Consensus (1950-1990) relied on the three principals of secularism, socialism and non-alignment, where the discourse of social justice had no prominent place. It was only after the weakening of the Congress party at the national level that the conversation around social justice gained momentum. Representation and participation in educational institutions and government employment emerged as key agendas. In August 1990, reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was implemented based on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission, which identified caste as the primary indicator of social and educational backwardness.

The 1990s witnessed the emergence of several political parties that sought to champion the cause of social justice and achieved electoral success in doing so. However, many of these parties failed to move beyond this agenda and continue to focus predominantly on issues of caste, identity, and reservation. Over time, numerous caste-based organisations have also emerged, demanding reservation for their respective communities. Yet, political parties and organisations that consider themselves champions of the social justice discourse have neither introduced a new agenda nor made any innovative strides within the existing one. This inertia is gradually rendering them less relevant.

In recent years, the Congress party, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi,........

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