Higher education is exclusionary in principle but it must not perpetuate injustice as it is antithetical to the spirit of academia. This article aims to elaborate on the condition of Indian higher education specifically in response to the question of accessibility. The current systems designed to screen students indirectly favour individuals with inherent privileges. These privileges are converted into socially sanctioned claim on opportunities through the merit discourse. What does this entail for Dalits whose academic performance and potential is questioned based on flawed systems and methods?

The primary objective of this article is to understand the complexities in the current usage of merit in Indian admission policies in higher education. The article presents multiple interpretations of merit as understood by the respondents during the primary data collection from a public university. A detailed discussion on the themes culled out from the data collection will highlight the larger problem of fetishizing merit without understanding its deeply problematic structure.

The article also investigates the invisibility of caste discrimination and hypervisibility of caste otherwise in university space against the meritocratic principle that is considered to be a better alternative to caste-based quotas with respect to admission policies in higher education institutions.

高等教育从原则上讲是排他性的，但绝不能使不公正现象长期存在，因为它与学术精神背道而驰。本文旨在详细阐述印度高等教育的条件，以应对可及性问题。当前用于筛选学生的系统间接地偏爱具有固有特权的个人。这些特权通过功绩话语转化为社会认可的机会主张。对于那些基于有缺陷的系统和方法而受到质疑的学术表现和潜力的达利特人来说，这意味着什么？

本文的主要目的是了解印度在高等教育中录取政策中择优录用的复杂性。这篇文章提出了对功绩的多种解释，受访者在从一所公立大学收集原始数据的过程中理解了这些功绩。有关从数据收集中挑选出的主题的详细讨论将突出显示恋物癖优点的更大问题，而又不了解其深层问题的结构。

文章还研究了在大学空间中，基于精英原则的种姓歧视的隐身性以及其他种姓的超监督性，这在高等教育机构的录取政策方面被认为是基于种姓的配额的更好替代方案。