New headache for Modi

Until a few weeks ago nobody had heard about Hardik Patel, but the 22-year-old is proving to be a headache for none other than Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Patel is at the forefront of a movement pressing for job quotas for members of his “Patidar” community, which he feels has been left behind because of the government’s caste based reservation policy.
Last week, Patel organised a massive protest rally in Ahmedabad, the capital of Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where almost 500,000 members of his community brought the city to a standstill. Nine people died during the rally, most of them shot by the police. Public and private property worth millions was destroyed in the clashes.
Patel is now taking his agitation to the national capital New Delhi where he hopes to rally other communities hit by the reservation policy.
Various governments have struggled to deal with the issue of job quotas, but the fact of the matter is that the sooner Indian gets rid of this system the better it would be. Reservations, if any, should be on the basis of economic status alone, irrespective of what caste someone belongs to.