Aravind P. Datar, senior advocate, Supreme Court, on Saturday called for a review of the system of caste reservation in the country. “It’s time for Mandal 2.0. The Mandal Commission had said that a review of the reservation for backward people must be done once every 10 years to exclude those whose status has improved,” he said.
Speaking at the launch of a book titled ‘Caste as Social Capital,’ published by WestlandBooks, written by R. Vaidyanathan, former professor, IIM Bangalore, and Member, National Security Advisory Board here, Mr. Datar said that hopefully the country will opt for reservation based on economic status that was suggested by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and statesman Sardar Vallabhai Patel. Even B.R. Ambedkar, the father of the Constitution, said that caste reservation should be under 50%, he said.
R. Thyagarajan, founder Chairman, Shriram Group of Companies, said that Mr. Vaidyanathan had been associated with their organisations for over 20 years now.
S. Gurumurthy, editor, Thuglak, said that India had an economic organisation that was devastated by politics. He gave examples of thriving business hubs in Ludhiana and Jalandhar despite lack of knowledge of English and also how in Morvi and Kutch people do not buy goods on credit. Aarati Krishnan, editorial consultant, The Hindu Business Line, moderated the question session.
