Caste based reservation policy of India

PROVISION IN CONSTITUTION

"Nothing in Article 15 or clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any particular provision for the improvement of any socially and educationally backward sections of citizens of or for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes," the Indian Constitution declares in article 15(4). "The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, in particular of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation," according to Article 46 of the Constitution.

In 1992, the Supreme Court of India declared that reservations may not exceed 50%, claiming that anything higher would violate the Constitution's provision of equal access. As a result, reservations were capped. However, the latest amendment to the constitution surpasses 50%, and there are state statutes that also exceed 50%, which are currently being litigated in the Supreme Court. In the state of Tamil Nadu, for example, caste-based reservation is 69 percent and affects almost 87 percent of the population.

CONTROVERSY

Reservations in job promotions are "unconstitutional," or not in accordance with the political constitution, according to a 1993 Supreme Court judgement in the Indra Sawhney & Others v. Union of India case, which allowed them to continue for five years. The 77th amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1995 to alter Article 16 before the five-year period expired, allowing reservations for SC/STs in promotions to continue. The 85th amendment was added to offer SC/ST applicants promoted through reservation the advantage of consequential seniority.

The 81st amendment to the Constitution was enacted to allow the government to treat the backlog of reserved vacancies as a separate and distinct group, exempt from the 50% cap. The 82nd amendment added a clause to Article 335 that allows governments to grant promotion concessions to SC/ST candidates.

APPLICATION OF THE POLICY

The government, universities and public sector will hire job applicants based on the percentage of those who have reserved a spot in one of two categories. 1. Category of reservations (SC, ST, OBC, EWC and other minorities) 2. Category that is open (General, SC, ST, OBC, EWC and other minorities). In the open category, government and public sector hiring is based on merit, with one exception: Other Minorities women, ST women, SC women, ST Men, SC Men, OBC women, OBC Men, EWC Women, EWC Men, and then General if they are equally eligible (for example having same marks or Rank) and Reservation % will be taken into account for entrance exams fees, cut off marks, seat allotment, and other government initiatives. SCs, STs, BCs, OBCs, women, Muslims, and other minorities in India are eligible for student help. Given the extremely inadequate representation of the above-mentioned categories in employment and education due to historic, sociological, and cultural causes, only about 0.7 percent of student aid in India is based on merit. 22.5 percent of available seats in higher education institutions supported by the central government are allocated for students from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities (7.5 percent for STs, 15 percent for SCs,20 percent for ESC,12 percent for SCA,16 percent for SCB,22 percent for SCC,18 percent for SCD). By introducing a 27 percent reservation for OBCs, the reservation percentage has been enhanced to 49.5 percent. Even in Parliament and all elections, where a few constituencies are reserved for members of specific communities, this ratio is respected (which will next rotate in 2026 per the Delimitation Commission). Female reserves range from 5% to 33.33 percent in several states and universities. Though the caste based reservation has helped a lot for the upliftment of the backward sections of the society, it has proved to be a huge drawback for the general category of the society. Hoping for this blog to be useful! Stay tuned for further interesting topics.