Reservation in India

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Vanicademy

8 min readNov 5, 2020

Introduction

The age-old class structure of India is liable for the origination of the reservation system within the country.
In simple terms, it’s about facilitating access to seats within the government jobs, educational institutions, and even legislatures to certain sections of the population.
These sections have faced historical injustice thanks to their caste identity.
As a quota-based social action, the reservation also can be seen as positive discrimination.
In India, it’s governed by government policies backed by the Indian Constitution.

Historical Background

William Hunter and Jyotirao Phule in 1882 originally conceived the thought of the caste-based reservation system.
The reservation system that exists today, in its true sense, was introduced in 1933 when British Prime-Minister Ramsay Macdonald presented the ‘Communal Award’.
The award made provision for separate electorates for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans and therefore the Dalits.
After long negotiations, Gandhi and Ambedkar signed the ‘Poona Pact’, where it had been decided that there would be one Hindu electorate with certain reservations in it.
After independence, initially, reservations were provided just for SCs and STs.
OBCs were included within the ambit of reservation in 1991 on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.

Mandal Commission

In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 340 of the Constitution, the President appointed a backward class commission in December 1978 under the chairmanship of B. P. Mandal.
The commission was formed to work out the standards for outlining India’s “socially and educationally backward classes” and to recommend steps to be taken for the advancement of these classes.
The Mandal Commission concluded that India’s population consisted of roughly 52 per cent OBCs, therefore 27% of state jobs should be reserved for them.
The commission has developed eleven indicators of social, educational, and economic backwardness.
Apart from identifying backward classes among Hindus, the Commission has also identified backward classes among non-Hindus (e.g., Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists.
It has generated an all-India other backward classes (OBC) list of three,743 castes and a more underprivileged “depressed backward classes” list of two,108 castes.
In the Indra Sawhney Case of 1992, the Supreme Court while upholding the 27 per cent quota for backward classes, struck down the govt notification reserving 10% government jobs for economically backward classes among the upper castes.
Supreme Court within the same case also upheld the principle that the combined reservation beneficiaries shouldn’t exceed 50 per cent of India’s population.
The concept of ‘creamy layer’ also gained currency through this judgment and provision that reservation for backward classes should be confined to initial appointments only and not reach promotions.
Recently, the Constitutional (103rd Amendment) Act of 2019 has provided 10% reservation in government jobs and academic institutions for the “economically backward” within the unreserved category.
The Act amends Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution by adding clauses empowering the govt to supply reservation supported economic backwardness.
This 10% economic reservation is over and above the five hundred reservation cap.

Constitutional Provisions Governing Reservation in India

Part XVI deals with reservation of SC and ST in Central and State legislatures.
Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution enabled the State and Central Governments to order seats in government services for the members of the SC and ST.
The Constitution was amended by the Constitution (77th Amendment) Act, 1995 and a replacement clause (4A) was inserted in Article 16 to enable the govt to supply reservation in promotion.
Later, clause (4A) was modified by the Constitution (85th Amendment) Act, 2001 to supply consequential seniority to SC and ST candidates promoted by giving reservation.
Constitutional 81st Amendment Act, 2000 inserted Article 16 (4 B) which enables the state to fill the unfilled vacancies of a year which are reserved for SCs/STs within the succeeding year, thereby nullifying the ceiling of fifty per cent reservation on the entire number of vacancies of that year.
Article 330 and 332 provides for specific representation through the reservation of seats for SCs and STs within the Parliament and therefore the State Legislative Assemblies respectively.
Article 243D provides reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Panchayat.
Article 233T provides reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Municipality.
Article 335 of the constitution says that the claims of STs and STs shall be taken into consideration consistently with the upkeep of efficacy of the administration.

Judicial Scrutiny of Reservation

The State of Madras v. Smt.Champakam Dorairajan (1951) case was the primary major verdict of the Supreme Court on the difficulty of Reservation. The case led to the primary Amendment within the constitution.
The Supreme Court within the case acknowledged that while within the case of employment under the State, Article 16(4) provides for reservations in favour of a backward class of citizens, no such provision was made in Article 15.
According to the Supreme Court’s order within the case, the Parliament amended Article 15 by inserting Clause (4).
In Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) case the court examined the scope and extent of Article 16(4).
The Court has said that the creamy layer of OBCs should be excluded from the list of beneficiaries of reservation, there shouldn’t be reservation in promotions, and total reserved quota should not exceed 50%.
The Parliament responded by enacting 77th Constitutional Amendment Act which introduced Article 16(4A).
The article confers power on the state to order seats in favour of SC and ST in promotions publicly Services if the communities aren’t adequately represented publicly employment.
The Supreme Court in M. Nagaraj v. Union Of India 2006 case while upholding the constitutional validity of Art 16(4A) held that any such reservation policy to be constitutionally valid shall satisfy the subsequent three constitutional requirements:
The SC and ST community should be socially and educationally backwards.
The SC and ST communities aren’t adequately represented publicly employment.
Such reservation policy shall not affect the general efficiency within the administration.
In Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta case of 2018, Supreme Court holds that reservation in promotions doesn’t require the state to gather quantifiable data on the backwardness of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
The Court held that creamy layer exclusion extends to SC/STs and, hence the State cannot grant reservations in the promotion to SC/ST individuals who belong to the creamy layer of their community.
In May 2019 the Supreme Court upheld the Karnataka law that permits reservations in promotions for SCs and STs with consequential seniority.

To correct the historical injustice faced by backward castes within the country.
To provide a level playing field for the backward section as they can not compete with those who have had the access to resources and means for centuries.
To ensure adequate representation of backward classes within the services under the State.
For the advancement of backward classes.
To ensure equality as the basis of meritocracy i.e all people must be brought to the same level before judging them based on merit.

Why reservation needed?

Reservation in state services led to divisions and enmity among government employees, vitiating the atmosphere at the workplace.
Eradication, not the perpetuation of caste was the objective of the reservation policy but Caste Based Reservation only perpetuate the notion of caste in society.
The reservation was introduced to make sure that the historically underprivileged communities got equal access to resources but regardless of the economic progress they remain socially disadvantaged.
Reservation destroys self-respect, such a lot so that competition is not any longer on to work out the simplest but the foremost backward.
Reservations are the most important enemy of meritocracy which is that the foundation of the many progressive countries.
It has become a tool to satisfy narrow political ends through invoking class loyalties and primordial identities.
The dominant and elite class within the backward castes has appropriated the advantages of reservation and therefore the most marginalised within the backward castes have remained marginalised.
Reservation has become the mechanism of exclusion instead of inclusion as many upper-caste poor also are facing discrimination and injustice which breeds frustration within the society.

Argument Against Reservation

Reasons Behind Increasing Demands of Reservation

Acute agrarian distress,
Stagnation in employment growth and
Distortions in the development trajectory.

In developed states like Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra, despite their economies being relatively better, three things have been worrying about the people:

Increasing reservation demands among upper castes also arising from the fear of losing privilege and therefore the inability to deal with change
Upper castes have begun to feel disadvantaged especially in the context of government jobs as they don’t get similar advantages like backward classes.

In this backdrop, for governments, it’s easier to speak of reservation than to form a course correction.

The reservation benefits should flow to the overwhelming majority of underprivileged children from deprived castes; to not a couple of privileged children with a caste tag.
High ranks officials families, high-income professionals et al. above a particular income shouldn’t get the reservation benefits, especially in government jobs.
Fair and practical ways to assist a needy person from each community through reservation is feasible and necessary.
The process of the reservation should filter the truly economically deprived individuals and convey all of them to justice
Revolutionary changes in the education system at the grass-roots level is the need of the hour.
There is also need for awareness generation because while the unreserved segments, keep it up opposing the supply, the neediest sections from within the reserved segments are hardly conscious of how to get benefited from the supply or maybe whether there are such provisions exists.
The radical solutions like excluding the entire creamy layer among all castes from the reservation and developing their capabilities instead of offering them reservation for admission to higher education or jobs on a platter.

Suggestion

Reservation is fair, as far because it provides appropriate positive discrimination for the advantage of the downtrodden and economically backward sections of the society.
But when it tends to harm the society and ensures privileges to some at the value of others for narrow political ends, it should be done away with, as soon as possible.
The communities excluded from reservations harbor animosity and prejudice against the castes included within the reservation category.