K.P.Girija ponders on merit:

Equality always deflects from diversity. One can’t be equal by being different from the prevailing social norms; one needs to disown certain cultural differences at least temporarily in order to be equal. In this way, equality (though indirectly) demands a kind of homogeneity which makes the promise of equality hollow and unattainable. So, in order to attain an equal space one needs the qualifying concept of certain merit. The invisible (it indeed is visible at crucial points) norms of this qualifying concept is determined by meritorious groups who have earned legitimacy to move in certain spaces historically familiar to them. Merit is a relational concept which varies from context to context and, according to institutional practices and social structures, but always with an overarching implication of culture.