What we would call quotas the Indians call reservations, and Indian medical students have been turning up en masse to protest against them.
Now they’re being joined by other groups. From Thousands take to streets to protest caste quotas in India:
Thousands of students and professionals have marched through the streets of India’s capital to protest a government affirmative action plan to reserve more university seats for lower castes.Chanting “Stop this injustice,” doctors, lawyers, executives and parents joined the rally against boosting quotas for lower-caste students in top medical, engineering and other professional colleges to 49.5 percent from 22.5 percent.
The turnout Saturday by other professions at the demonstration marked an escalation of the protests that until now have been spearheaded by medical students whose strikes have crippled health care services in state-run hospitals across India.
Medical students from across the country arrived by coaches in New Delhi, hoisting banners which read: “Doctors need to be preserved, not reserved.”
Police estimated the crowd at the New Delhi protest at around 5,000 people.
“I am from a lower caste but I did not take advantage of the existing quota. If the government increases the quota, it will badly affect medical standards,” said Dr Pranshu Bishnoi.
The government says the move to raise quotas is a bid to reverse social discrimination against lower castes and boost their represention in top professions.
Opponents say the seats should be awarded on merit and that existing quotas have benefited only a handful of lower-caste students with a majority not even getting basic education.
Many say the move is aimed at garnering votes from the lower castes which make up around two-thirds of India’s population.