This essay attempts to argue why affirmative action is required in a society where inequality persists. It locates the justification for affirmative action in philosophical argument as well as in expediency. The philosophical argument consists in the fact that nature has arbitrarily endowed different individuals with different talents or the lack thereof, and therefore no individual is entirely is responsible for what one possesses or not. Moreover, in a given society, for good or for ill, an action of a member – or the lack thereof – affect another member of the same society. Given this condition, if those least advantaged are not given due consideration in the form of affirmative action, it is more likely that overall human flourishing will be harder to achieve. The essay also critiques the present economic and political order that provide reservation to all the members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST). It further underlines that political parties should not use this policy of affirmative action as a tool for electoral gain.
Affirmative Action, Electoral Politics, Political Parties
