>> The reservation system actively creates a divide among castes.
No it does not. Caste based divisions existed for thousands of years before the reservation system. The reservation system tries to bring a fair competition between candidates who are from different caste backgrounds.
Think of it like the weight division of boxers. Saying a heavyweight boxer should not fight a lightweight boxer is not discriminating against the heavyweights. It is a mechanism to ensure the competition is fair. If we eliminate the weight divisions, the winners of the tournament are most likely to be from the heavier categories.
Before reservation, the castes who were only about 5% of the population were occupying more than 70% of the top jobs like judges, bureaucrats, academics etc. Reservation ensures that the lightweights fight among themselves and heavy weights fight among themselves and the there are winners from both the categories.
The caste system existed long before Europeans ruled India. Caste system has roots in the Vedic society.
"The varnas originated in Vedic society (c. 1500–500 BCE). The first three groups, Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishya have parallels with other Indo-European societies, while the addition of the Shudras is probably a Brahmanical invention from northern India."
As with any traditional profession in India, tree climbing is caste based and caste is based on birth. A persons profession is decided based on which family they are born into. In every village or town, there will be a family who does this job generation after generation. The castes who perform low level jobs such as tree climbing, weaving, farm labor etc. are collectively known as the Shudras. Shudras are the lowest level in the caste pyramid and were historically oppressed and were denied basic rights such as education.
Being illiterate and unorganized, they don't have any negotiating power, which is the reason for lower pay. They also had no choice because they were told that they were "born" to do this work.
The reason for shortage of harvesters is that, the latest generation does not want to take up the family job because of poor pay and low status. The younger generation wants to get educated and move to big cities to find better jobs, thanks to the progressive reforms and loosening of the caste system in the recent decades, at-least in urban areas. The current generation of tree climbers will probably be the last or second last generation who does this job.
> Indians have built precisely engineered monuments like the Taj Mahal
Your claim does not hold up. According to the Wikipedia page you linked and other related pages,
1. Tajmahal was commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who was born in Lahore, Pakistan. [1]
2. Was built on Persian and Mughal Architecture. [2]
3. Was architected by Ustad Ahmad Lahori who was from Afghanistan. [3]
There are better examples that can be cited to claim that "precisely engineered monuments" exist in India, such as Kallanai Dam[4] and Peruvudaiyar Temple[5], both built before at-least 1000 years, long before the Mughals and the British.
No it does not. Caste based divisions existed for thousands of years before the reservation system. The reservation system tries to bring a fair competition between candidates who are from different caste backgrounds.
Think of it like the weight division of boxers. Saying a heavyweight boxer should not fight a lightweight boxer is not discriminating against the heavyweights. It is a mechanism to ensure the competition is fair. If we eliminate the weight divisions, the winners of the tournament are most likely to be from the heavier categories.
Before reservation, the castes who were only about 5% of the population were occupying more than 70% of the top jobs like judges, bureaucrats, academics etc. Reservation ensures that the lightweights fight among themselves and heavy weights fight among themselves and the there are winners from both the categories.