RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY
Focus Group Report

Abhranil Bose-002
Ankita Gandhi-007
Fateh Sahaj Singh Bagga-014
Kanika Narang-015
Mehvash Kidwai-020
Paawan Ahuja-023
Sanjana Baheti-032
Shubh Jindal-038
Subhav Wadhwa-040
Tushar Saraogi-042
Shrey Sheth-044
Rishi Raj Mundra-046

Agenda for Focus Group

Topic: Is caste based reservation system justified in India?
Aim: To know about the perceptions and viewpoints of people on casteism
in the reservation system
Number of people: 6-10 participants
Time: 10-20 minutes
Screening Criterion:
- age group 19 to 21 years
- The group should have equal representation from all sections of the
society
- The income group of participants should not be the same
- They should be rational and individual thinkers
- They must have a fair knowledge about the topic
Methodology used:
- Give a brief about the prevailing quota system
- Use audio visual recording
- Have two moderators to monitor and drive the discussion
- Ask them questions on a Likert scale for a clearer response
Criterion for Moderator:
- Good interpersonal skills
- Good listeners
- Give a fair chance to all participants to put forward their viewpoints
- Must have unbiased view on the issue
- Should involve everyone in the discussion
- Should drive the discussion into the needed direction
- Should have a thorough knowledge on the topic
Flow of discussion:
- Introduction of participants
- Know about the existing knowledge of participants on the matter
- Show them briefly the current situation of the quota system
- Know about any experience encountered by them
- Take their views on reservations

- Discuss the need of the system

- Ask about possible improvements to rectify loopholes
- Take their opinions on various dimensions on the topic on a likert scale

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Participants:
Arinjai Menon
Aishwarya Aeron
Aman Agarwal
Aditya Seth
Paridhi Sharma
Diye Sachdev
Anshul Goenka

Moderator:
1. Shrey Sheth
Date: 7th August 2015
Duration: 21 min

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Limitations:
A limited target audience thus did not have a fair representation of all
sections of the society and income groups.
Since only urban audience were participants other income groups were
not taken into consideration and thus the perspective can be biased.
Conversion of quantitative data in to qualitative data
Dominance of one member; less participation by a few members in the
group.
The moderator had to keep on asking questions and the group became
like an interview-group discussion.
Moderators inputs may have led to a change in the participants
perspective.
Analysis:
There was a common consensus that the rationale behind why reservation
system was implanted it was good. But it is now being exploited and has
been tarnished.
All or most participants had either encountered instances of where the
system was misused or have heard their close ones experiencing it.
50% participants feel that system is being heavily exploited and hence
should be done away with. Others feel it was good but needs new reforms
now.
A general opinion was drawn up that reservations should take the
economic background of the people into consideration before they can

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avail of benefits of the quota system. Something like Economic Weaker

Sections (EWS) adopted in the Delhi schools.
Community colleges are justified to have a quota to a certain extent but a
major chunk should still be open to all.
The reservation system is being used up as a vote bank to favour the
politicians of the country which has ruined the objective behind the
reservation system.
Poverty on the other hand is a factor determining the reservation but for
that poverty upliftment programs can be put into place. Rather than
giving these sections reservation at all stages, they should be simply be
given reservation only at grass root level; that is for their schooling
because the background shouldnt be overshadowing their capabilities
Over time a division of the society has taken place due to the reservation
system than reducing it.
Conclusion:
- The idea with which the system was implemented was good and has
helped in developing the country. However, its been long and the system
should be done with because as the population is increasing so are the
number of SCs, STs, OBCs and the general category people. In such a
situation giving so many benefits just to one section of the society is
alienating the general category people. Due to reservation in
constituencies and UPSC exam the major bureaucrats and politicians
belong to this 'privileged class' and the general category people are being
left behind. However, the most remorseful part is that equality has been
put on hold and this preference is given just for the sake of vote bank.
Several instances of fake certificates, people changing their surnames
have been reported but no initiative to improvise the system has taken
place. Having said that, it is difficult to do away with the system but this
policy can definitely be evolved.
Following points to improve the system came up during the focus group
discussion:- Giving additional 5% marks rather than reserving seats in college
-Education should be made free and compulsory till the age of 15 years
- Having reservations in schools rather at all stages
-Inculcating the economic aspect rather than just the caste and social
aspect while deciding the reservations
-More poverty reducing and education schemes should be implemented to
make people self-sufficient and not dependent upon the reservation

-Selfish interest of the politicians and bureaucrats should not impact the
reservation system
Changing the system is the need of the hour as it is leading to division in
the society. Currently as per the government jobs and 15% students
admitted to universities must be from SCs and for the STs there's a
reservation of about 7.5%. Other than this stake governments also follow
their own reservation policies respectively based upon the population
constitution of each state. So nearly 50% seats are reserved which is a lot
& has thus created a negatively in the minds of the general quota people.

Appendix 1:
Questionnaire (Done by show of hands)
SURVEY ON RESERVATIONS IN INDIA
NAME:

AGE:

Note: All questions to be answered in yes or no

1. Do you agree that poverty is an effect and caste system a cause of
deprivations that people face?
2. Do you think purchasing value in India depends upon caste? Eg. Dalit
can't buy a cup of tea at some places
3. Is mentioning caste in matrimonial advertisements perceived as
"casteism" by you?
4. Do reservations overshadow merit?
5. Do you think reservations based on castes lead to division in the
society?
Appendix 2:
Secondary Data

1 http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-fb9d5378f1a4f440a44021ff213f345a?
convert_to_webp=true
2 http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5bbadbf857abb8a7bba646c2a4d84909?
convert_to_webp=true

3 http://www.google.co.in/imgres?
imgurl=http://media.myklassroom.com/mkm_webroot/images/reservation.png&i
mgrefurl=http://www.myklassroom.com/Tamilnadu-engineering-collegeadmissions/reservation-details/&h=422&w=600&tbnid=bRb8bReVOXSmM:&docid=f329xVxcHEuDrM&ei=V_PVVbOgF8aiugSo5avwDQ&tbm=isch&ved=
0CCMQMygHMAdqFQoTCPOn4IL-t8cCFUaRjgodqPIK3g

4 http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg41754a069fc1e731109c1fb4ad3dbbe6%253Fconvert_to_webp
%253Dtrue&imgrefurl=http://www.quora.com/What-are-your-views-on-castebased-reservation-system-in-India&h=259&w=477&tbnid=4TyY6cS0DkpdM:&docid=JbwAGVHHCaB8wM&itg=1&ei=8vPVVY7DJMmVuATf54PwC
w&tbm=isch&ved=0CFEQMyguMC5qFQoTCI6E4sz-t8cCFckKjgod3_MAvg

For presentation bose use these lines

There is a major discord between the concept of reservation based on the
principles of justice and equality, and the policy of reservation as
developed by Indian politics. Reservation aims at reducing the historical
social inequalities and tries to give every person the same 'equal start' in
life. On the other hand, the Indian policy of reservation aims at preserving
the inequalities and caste based social hierarchies to ensure
that politicians have clear cut vote banks. Further, we often forget that
reservation is not the ultimate solution; it is just one of the means towards
a socially just and equal society. There is an immense need for other forms
of affirmative actions like medical aid, scholarship for education, housing
and self-employment schemes. It's high time to stop spoon-feeding people
so that people learn to fend for themselves.

In the words of Lao Tzu,

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a

day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed
him for a lifetime."