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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

10/05/24 15:09 PM IST

Reservation within Constitutional bounds

In News
  • A political slugfest has emerged over the reservation issues with the BJP making outlandish remarks about the Congress’ demand for caste census by linking it to religion.
Provisions in Constitution
  • The Constitution aims to secure social justice while guaranteeing equality as a fundamental right.
  • Articles 15 and 16 guarantee equality to all citizens in any action by the state (including admissions to educational institutions) and public employment respectively.
  • To achieve social justice, they also enable the state to make special provisions for the advancement of OBC, SC and ST.
  • OBC is a collective term to classify socially and educationally backward castes.
  • Many States also classify certain castes as the Most Backward Classes (MBC). The reservation percentages vary from State to State.
  • In the Indra Sawhney case (1992), the Supreme Court upheld the 27% reservation for OBC.
  • It opined that caste is a determinant of class in the Indian context and backwardness cannot be determined solely on economic criteria.
  • However, to uphold the basic structure of equality, it fixed a cap of 50% for reservations unless there were exceptional circumstances.
  • The reservation of OBC (27%), SC (15%) and ST (7.5%) resulted in a total reservation of 49.5%.
  • The court also provided for excluding the creamy layer from OBC with an income limit currently at ₹8 lakhs per annum.
  • Children of parents, either of whom entered the government service (Centre or State) as Group A/Class I officers and children of parents, both of whom entered as Group B/Class II officers are also excluded.
  • In the Janhit Abhiyan case (2022), the court by a majority of 3:2 upheld the constitutional validity of the EWS reservation. It held that economic criteria could be a basis for reservation.
Way forward
  • Reservation is affirmative action meant to balance the historical discrimination faced by OBC, SC and ST communities.
  • Rohini Commission was set up to provide recommendations on sub-categorisation amongst OBC castes.
  • Though the findings of the report are yet to be made public, it has been estimated that 97% of reserved jobs and seats in educational institutions have been garnered by just around 25% of the OBC castes/sub-castes at the central level.
  • Close to 1,000 of around 2,600 communities under the OBC category had zero representation in jobs and educational institutes.
  • While sub-categorisation has been implemented in 11 different States, it has not been carried out at the central level.
  • A similar issue of concentration of reservation benefits persists in the SC and ST categories.
  • There is no exclusion based on the ‘creamy layer’ for these communities.
  • The Dalit Christians and Muslims also suffer from considerable discrimination and lack of opportunities.
  • The government has constituted a commission headed by former CJI K. G. Balakrishnan to study the question of extending SC reservation to Dalits who have converted to religions other than Sikhism and Buddhism.
  • Increasing the reservation limit beyond 50%, sub-categorisation among reserved categories, introducing appropriate creamy layers for SC and ST, and extending SC reservations to Dalit Christians and Muslims are matters that are sensitive with their set of pros and cons.
  • There must be effort nevertheless to deliberate on these matters and frame suitable policies such that the benefits of reservation progressively reach the extremely marginalised sections.
  • The aim should be towards the continuous pursuit of social justice while maintaining a harmonious balance with equality guaranteed in the Constitution.
Source- The Hindu

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