The Root of the Caste Issue

Poverty lies at the root of the inability of the weak to feel empowered - not caste, religion, gender. A wealthy member of the population can have his way as long as he is well off. And money talks and opens doors irrespective of the caste, gender or religion of the person offering it.

It would seem that the easiest way to enrich people without raising tempers would be to reserve seats in non essential activities. It is indeed a strange fact of Indian life that so far there has been no reservation in such fields like entertainment and sports where merit doesn't matter anyway; but critical areas of government have accomodated people of lesser skill based on their caste.

The Indian film industry worth ten thousand crores annually should be an ideal starting point for people to enrich themselves. We have so many films, serials, and allied industries supporting entertainment that it would be a modest to expect atleast a few thousand get enriched quickly. A good example is the case of the slum dwelling kids of Slumdog millionaire. They have enriched themselves, and now have a world of opportunity before them.

While films is mostly privatised, sports are not. I do not see a need to have the best players representing the country and being paid lacs per appearance, when it would not make any difference if people of questionable skill were paid as much. The victory at a match is not as important and giving lacs to the poor. And it definitely is safer to have people question the skill of a athlete than that of an IAS officer.

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