Pratap Bhanu Mehta: The little farce of Brahmin welfare schemes is a sign of India’s great tragedy
The Andhra Pradesh government has a Veda Vyasa Scheme for Vedic Education. Let us, for a moment, put aside the question of whether there is a secular pedagogical argument for the state supporting Vedic education. But who is eligible for this education? Students should belong to the Brahmin community by birth. Similarly, the parallel schemes in Telangana and Karnataka require Brahmin caste certificates to be eligible for their schemes. Can you think of anything more grotesque than the idea that in the 21st century the state provides support to a profession whose eligibility is determined by birth? If Vedic education is an unalloyed good, why should it not be open to all, subject to conduct rules? How can the state discriminate, and confine it to Brahmins identified by birth? This cannot pass any constitutional smell test….
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/brahmin-welfare-schemes-social-justice-7495186/