Reservation in India
Based on provisions in the Indian Constitution, it allows the Union Government and the States and Territories of India to allocate a specific percentage of reserved quotas or seats, in higher education admissions, employment, political bodies, etc., for "socially and economically backward citizens".
[1][2][3] Since its implementation, reservation has been a subject of debate and controversy over its impact, execution and effectiveness, significantly shaping the agendas of political parties and the actions of social groups.
[5] Chatrapati Shahu, the Maharaja of the princely state of Kolhapur, introduced reservation in favor of non-Brahmin and backward classes, much of which came into effect in 1902.
The Imperial parliament at Westminster introduced elements of reservation in the Government of India Act of 1909 and there were many other measures put in place prior to independence.
[8] In 1927, the Madras Presidency provided 44% reservation to Non-Brahmin Hindus, 16% to Brahmins, Muslims, Christians, and Anglo-Indians, and 8% to Scheduled Castes.
[9][10] During the Round Table Conference of June 1932, the Prime Minister of Britain, Ramsay MacDonald, proposed the Communal Award, according to which separate representation was to be provided for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, and Europeans.
After negotiations, Gandhi reached an agreement with Ambedkar to have a single Hindu electorate, with backward classes having more seats reserved within it.
[17] In 1980, the commission's report recommended that a reserved quota for OBCs of 27 per cent should apply in respect of services and public sector bodies operated by the Union Government.
"[22] The Supreme Court of India ruled in 1992 that reservations could not exceed 50 percent, anything above which it judged would violate equal access as guaranteed by the Constitution.
55 OF 2019, upheld the validity of the 103rd constitutional amendment carried out to provide legal sanction carve out 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections from unreserved classes for admission in educational institutions and government jobs[26] and held that the 50% cap on quota is not inviolable and affirmative action on economic basis may go a long way in eradicating caste-based reservation.
On 1 August 2024, the Supreme Court of India ruled 6:1 in favor of permitting states to create sub-quotas for Scheduled Castes and Tribes within their reservation schemes.
[30]" Justice Bela Trivedi provided the lone dissent, saying that states did not have the power to "tinker" with the 1950 Presidential List and that the sub-quotas violated Article 14.
The 1993 Supreme Court ruling in the Indra Sawhney & Others v. Union of India case said that reservations in job promotions are "unconstitutional" or not in accordance with the political constitution but allowed its continuation for five years.
[34] The 81st amendment was made to the Constitution to permit the government to treat the backlog of reserved vacancies as a separate and distinct group, to which the ceiling of 50 per cent did not apply.
[36] The validity of all the above four amendments was challenged in the Supreme Court through various petitions clubbed together in M. Nagaraj & Others Vs. Union of India & Others, mainly on the ground that these altered the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
In 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the amendments but stipulated that the concerned state will have to show, in each case, the existence of "compelling reasons" - which include "backwardness", "inadequacy of representation" and overall "administrative efficiency - before making provisions for reservation.
[38] The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court, which upheld it in 2012 by rejecting the government's argument because it failed to furnish sufficient valid data to justify the move to promote employees on a caste basis.
The criticism points that the policy benefits women that have access to political capital through family circles and are faced with the burden of a huge learning curve.
The amendment seeks to allocate 33 percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha and elected state legislative assemblies for women.
[59] On 21 July 2021, Karnataka implemented the policy, making the state the first in the country to provide one percent reservation for the transgender community in all government services.
The government submitted a report to the High Court in this regard, informing that a notification had already been issued after amending the Karnataka Civil Service.
[citation needed] The Union Government on 22 December 2011 announced the establishment of a sub-quota of 4.5% for religious minorities within the existing 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes.
The 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests were a series of protests that took place in India in 2006 in opposition to the decision of the Union Government of India, led by the Indian National Congress-headed multiparty coalition United Progressive Alliance, to implement reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central and private institutes of higher education.
This move led to massive protests, particularly from students and doctors belonging to the forward castes, who claimed that the government's proposal was discriminatory, discarded meritocracy and was driven by vote-bank politics.
Bowing to the pressure, the Haryana government created a special category for Jats and other upper castes called BC, and appointed 10% reservation, but the measure was blocked in court.
After the Jat agitation began in 2016, the Patidars flared up again and led a march through Gujarat, but protests in several cities turned violent and the Rapid Action Force was sent in.
Their demand was met when the Maharashtra government instituted a special SEBC (Socially and Educationally Backward Classes) category for them with 16% reservation.
[80] The Union Government tabled the Constitution (One Hundred And Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019 which provided 10% additional quota for the economically weaker sections amongst the erstwhile unreserved category students.
[120] Gujarat was one of the first states to implement EWS reservation, which applies to general category candidates with less than ₹8 lakhs income, not including other assets like land.
[121] • Scheduled Castes – 20% • Other Backward Classes – 23% • Economically Weaker Sections – 10% • Ex-servicemen – 5% • Sportspersons – 3% • Physically handicapped – 3% In Haryana OBCs are divided into A, B, C categories, each with 11%, 6% and 6% reservation respectively.
