'Reservation Must Be Decided Purely On Economic Grounds'

'If candidates securing negative marks are admitted into medical colleges to become doctors, how will we ever build a Viksit Bharat?'

'This movement is not solely for the general category or the upper castes; it is for the whole of Indian society.'

'Right now, a creamy layer within the reserved categories keeps cornering the benefits, while the genuinely disadvantaged -- even within SC and ST communities -- are left out.'

 

When the government finally agreed to sit across the table with the Reservation Hatao Andolan (RHA) on Thursday, August 27, 2026, it brought a fortnight of street agitation to a quieter, more procedural turn -- at least for now.

The Instagram-born campaign, which counts more than five million followers and has emerged as one of the loudest voices demanding that India's reservation policy be reworked around economic need rather than caste, had gathered hundreds of supporters at Jantar Mantar on August 21.

That evening ended in scenes familiar to anyone tracking Delhi's protest calendar this year: Police withholding permission, barricades going up, and, once demonstrators refused to disperse past the permitted hour, detentions running into the dozens.

A week later, Union Health Minister J P Nadda hosted RHA's -- RHA has now changed its name to Reservation Reforms Andolan as its leaders emphasise that they don't want cancellation of reservations but only meaningful reforms -- core team -- Harsh Dubey, Ran Bahadur Singh Chauha and Mrityunjay Pathak -- for what his office described as a 'cordial discussion', promising a follow-up press conference around September 7.

In this interview with Prasanna D Zore/Rediff, Harsh Dubey sets out RHA's demands, denies a growing rift within the movement, and explains why he believes talk alone won't cut it.

'This isn't a movement of the so-called upper castes alone'

You met Union Minister J P Nadda on Thursday. What demands did you place before him on behalf of the Reservation Hatao Andolan, and how did he respond?

Naddaji's response was quite positive. He acknowledged that the points we raised carried merit. We sat together for nearly two hours at Naddaji's official residence, the government bungalow that also functions as his office. He doesn't actually live there full-time.

Following the discussion, he gave us an assurance that they will hold a press conference around September 7 to outline the decisive steps the government intends to take on this subject.

What exactly was he assuring you on?

That the government will act -- though no decision has been made yet. Our point is simple: Reservation should reach the people who genuinely need it.

If we keep making doctors out of candidates who've scored negative marks, how are we ever going to build a developed India? Getting there means taking hard decisions, and taking them now.

What is the RHA's core demand?

That reservation be decided purely on economic grounds, across every caste.

Right now, a creamy layer within the reserved categories keeps cornering the benefits, while the genuinely disadvantaged -- even within SC and ST communities -- are left out.

This isn't a movement of the so-called upper castes alone. It's about the whole of Indian society, including those within SC/ST who aren't getting what the policy was meant to give them.

The day we start making rules purely along caste lines, we only divide society further. That's the conversation the government needs to have, and soon.

Did Mr. Nadda confirm he will hold a press conference?

Yes -- precisely so that these issues stop repeating themselves.

'We urge everyone to set aside personal differences and collaborate for the larger cause'

There appear to be two factions within the Reservation Hatao Andolan. One side, led by Shivam Singh, alleges that you met Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak without informing anyone, kept the core committee in the dark, and that some leaders are in this purely for the visibility.

Shivam Singh has at least done some work on the ground, I'll give him that. But Anuradha Tiwari and Ajeet Bharti hadn't stepped out for the movement before it even began -- they're chasing the limelight, plain and simple.

You're a reporter, you'd know how that game works. As for calling them core committee members: I have never once been in direct contact with Ajeet Bharti, despite repeated requests that he get in touch.

Someone I've never spoken to cannot be a core committee member -- not in my lifetime. If we let this drag on, the government gets an easy excuse to dismiss us as 'a handful of people' and let the whole issue die there.

What is your message to the other dissenting leaders within the anti-quota space?

Our message to them has always been clear: come together and work together. If the supreme objective of systemic reform is the same, where is the disagreement?

From the very beginning, our objective has been structural reform. We urge everyone to set aside personal differences and collaborate for the larger cause.

Will the RHA sit in protest at Jantar Mantar again if your demands aren't met?

Without question. We've flagged the September 5 as the point by which we expect movement on this. We're keeping the exact next steps open until then, so as not to pre-empt what's discussed at the press conference.

Will you be meeting Mr. Nadda again before that?

Yes, for the decisive steps. But realistically, that conversation happens at the press conference itself -- he has his own schedule to manage, and so do we.

When your supporters gathered at Jantar Mantar, there were reports of a heavy police crackdown.

We were peaceful protesters, and that kind of barbaricforce should never be used against people demonstrating peacefully.

Save it for those pelting stones, rioting or hurling abuse -- not for the ones simply exercising their right to protest. That's the double standard we're up against, and it needs to be called out.