THERE are moments in history when people face a choice: do we heal the scars of the past, or do we protect the hope that carries us into the future? For a generation raised on the belief that hard work, discipline, and perseverance open doors, Jammu and Kashmir presents a cruel paradox. The doors remain, yet many lead nowhere. The barrier is no longer conflict or poverty alone; it is the shifting landscape of opportunity itself.

The system of reservation, intended to correct historical injustices, has inadvertently left a large section of aspirants feeling trapped. Merit, once a reliable measure of effort and ability, is increasingly overshadowed by the circumstances of birth and geography. Philosophers from Aristotle to John Rawls remind us that fairness must account for inequality, yet merit must remain a possibility - an open door for talent and perseverance to pass through.

The Shrinking Path of Opportunity

Open merit, which once accounted for half of government jobs, university seats, and professional streams, has now been reduced to around 40 percent. Horizontal reservations further shrink the“real share” for general category students to roughly 30 percent. Examinations that were once a test of knowledge now feel like a lottery, where birth and category often outweigh ability.

In 2023, for example, of the 71 candidates who passed the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service examination, only 29 belonged to the general category; the rest came from reserved quotas. For general category aspirants, statistics like these feel less like data and more like destiny mocking effort.

For students in Kashmir, effort alone is no longer enough. Ambition can be constrained, sometimes negated entirely. Families invest not just money, but belief itself, nurturing dreams like fragile saplings, only to see hope tested by a system that feels indifferent.

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