Merit and myopia

The marginalised are not snatching anyone's share of the opportunity pie; the pie is already too small.

In a highly stratified society that reinforces discrimination based on caste, class, gender, language, region and religion, among others, affirmative action should not come with an expiry date. It takes decades, if not centuries, to undo the wrongs done to marginalised communities over centuries. And yet, the National Inclusion Commission, the constitutional commission formed to make recommendations for the protection of minorities, has recommended ending reservations in existing government services. A report published by the commission has recommended doing away with the reservation system in promotions through internal competitions, 14 years after it was brought into practice. The report calls reservation a temporary arrangement—and rightly so. However, it fails to identify the elephant in the room—the perpetuation of discrimination in every aspect of Nepali society that hinders the growth of individuals from marginalised communities on an everyday basis, even in higher positions of public service. Notably, the study, which focused only on the provisions related to the Civil Service and the Health Service, provides a glimpse of Nepal's broad field of public service.