Reservation Part 2: One Click to True Reservation

Welcome back, readers. This is Part 2 of the series Reservation Today — Who Really Needs It?. If you missed the first part on caste vs. financial status in reservations, read it here: Reservation Today — Who Really Needs It? (Part 1).

It was a quiet evening at our usual hangout spot near our area.

A few of us were sipping chai when Vihaan looked thoughtful. He picked up from last time's talk on financial status.

Vihaan spoke first.

"Last time we debated caste or money for reservation," he said softly. "VK, do you have any idea to help make this fairer?"

I replied thoughtfully.

"Maybe, Vihaan. It is not something a single department can handle. It requires efforts from many departments."

Vihaan leaned forward, eyes wide with curiosity. The others stopped sipping chai, listening closely.

I continued.

"Every PAN should be linked with Aadhaar number mandatorily. And each and every bank account, every account in financial institutes, every property, and every business must be linked with Aadhaar as a mandatory step. There should be a separate department — let's call it National Authentication Department (NAD) — that will provide a NAD number to every person."

I took a break and had a sip of chai while Vihaan and others listened interestingly.

I went on.

"These users Aadhaar cards should have family members Aadhaar numbers linked as mandatory like spouse if married, or parents and children details if they have children, as long as they are alive. Since it is mandatory to have those details, every minor account will automatically have parents or guardians Aadhaar numbers linked, leaving no option for users with children to lie in their portfolio. NAD should have different sub-departments that receive information from various private and government sectors like banking, financial institutes, income tax, revenue department etc. The first step after user registration is for NAD to gather this information from sub-departments and link it to the NAD number. Here, NAD plays a major role — so it should have enough resources or take help from other departments like Police, just like passport verification, to perform physical background verification for every registered user."

I added.

"Now we have NAD number. Government should make it mandatory that people applying for reservation quota must provide NAD number of applicant along with parents/guardian NAD number. Now government just has to verify their details through NAD. No NAD number means not eligible for reservation. Since NAD already has financial and assets details, it will solve most of the problems in financial status verification."

Vihaan leaned in closer, curiosity sparking in his eyes.

"Does it solve the problem for 100%?"

I smiled and replied.

"Vihaan, we cannot give a perfect solution that is fair for 100%. Some will still try loopholes. But it will truly help people with real financial problems."

For a moment, everyone went silent. Then Vihaan smiled and asked, "So, one click to true reservation? That could be the way forward."

The evening grew quieter around us as we all sat silently, lost in thought.

Na Alochana — one question leads to one clear thought.