Despite India’s reservation policy mandating social inclusion in central universities (CUs), systemic barriers persist, limiting access for students and faculty from underprivileged groups, for example, Scheduled Castes and Tribes and Other Backward Classes. This article critically examines the gap between policy and practice, assessing how effectively reservations have been implemented and their impact on higher education spaces (HES). To measure compliance, we develop a Reservation Implementation Index, combining fieldwork data with secondary sources. Case studies of Delhi University and the University of Hyderabad illustrate the stark consequences of non-implementation of this policy. Whereas the findings reveal the high potential of reservation policy in making HES more inclusive and diverse; they also highlight the poor implementation of reservation policies in most CU campuses, especially at the faculty level. The findings are useful in addressing debates and perceptions about reservation and to have a few policy recommendations for successfully implementing the reservation policies for making the HES more inclusive and dynamic.
Yadav et al. (2026) studied this question.