A quota on merit

Affirmative action is not anathema to liberal democracies. At a basic level, it seeks to link merit to equality of opportunity. A person may be intrinsically meritorious, but unfavourable economic circumstances and social background put him or her on an unequal playing field vis-à-vis those suffering no such handicaps. As a result, the individual’s true merit does not get revealed, which is what ‘affirmative action’ targeting underprivileged sections of society seeks to address.

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