Reservation Policies in Indian Colleges: What Every Student Should Know: Reservation in India is provided to Scheduled Castes. In simple terms, reservation in India is all about reserving access to seats in government jobs, educational institutions, and even legislatures to certain sections of the population.
Reservation Policies in Indian Colleges
In the reservation system in India, The central government notifies casts as SC, ST, or OBC categories based on socio-historical background, while exclusion from reservation benefits is determined by a single socio-economic status, nativeness, and religion.
As an affirmative action, the reservation can also be seen as positive discrimination. Reservation in India is a government policy, backed by the Indian Constitution.
The purpose of reservation in India
The two main aims are to provide reservations as per the constitution of India are:
- Advancement of Schedules Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) or any Social and educationally backward classes of citizens or economically weaker sections (EWS) Article 15 (4), Article 15 (5), and Article 15 (6).
- Adequate representation of any backward class of citizens or economically weaker sections (EWS) in the services under the State-Article16 (4) and Article16 (6)
The extent of Reservation in India
- Government Education Institutions- as per Article15-(4),(5),(6)
- Government Jobs -as per article 1(4),(6)
- Legislatures-as per Article 334
Before 2019, the reservation was provided mainly based on social and educational backwardness. However, after the 103rd constitutional amendment in 2019, economic backwardness is also considered.
Reservation Qutota in India for Government Jobs
| Reservation Category | Reservation Quota (%) |
| ST | 7.5% |
| SC | 15% |
| OBC | 27% |
| EWS | 10% |
| Total | 59.50% |
SC/ST Reservation
The objective of providing reservations to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled tribes (STs) in services is not only to give jobs to persons belonging to these communities. The aim at empower them and ensuring their participation in the decision-making process of the State.
Scheduled Castes (SC) are given a 15% quota in jobs/higher educational institutions while Schedule Tribes (ST) are given a 7.5% quota in jobs/higher education institutions.
reservation is provided for promotions for the SC/ST Category. There is no concept of A ‘Creamy Layer’ for SC/ST reservation. The government posts held by the parents, children of SC/ST parents will get SC/ST Reservations.
OBC Reservation
Reservation for other Backwards classes (OBC) was introduced based on the Mandal Commission Report (1991). The quota for OBCs is 27% in government jobs and higher education institutions.
There is a concept of a creamy layer for the OBC reservation. Only those from OBC who come under the non-creamy Layer would get an OBC Reservation. The creamy layer concept brings income and social status as parameters to exclude some of the privileged members of OBC from the extent of reservation.
EWS Reservation
The Central Government of India recently introduced EWS Reservation. A 10% quota is provided for the Economically Weaker Sections among General Category candidates in government jobs and educational institutions.
Critical Analysis of Reservation Policies
50% Cap in Cast-Based Reservations
In Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, 1992, the Supreme Court of India capped caste-based reservation, ruling that “no provision of reservation or preference can be so vigorously pursued as to destroy the very concept of equality”
The reservation under Article 15 (4) should not exceed 50% and the States and the Union have by and large accepted this as correct it should be held as constitutional prohibition and any reservation beyond 50% would be liable to be struck down.”
Promotion of Social Inclusion- Reservation fosters social inclusion by ensuring the representation of diverse communities in various sectors.
Meritocracy vs. quotas: Critics often argue that reservation compromises the principle of meritocracy by prioritizing caste-based quotas over merit-based selection.
Caste Reinforcement:- By institutionalizing caste identities and allocating benefits based on caste, the system may inadvertently perpetuate social stratification and hinder efforts towards building a more egalitarian society.
Creamy Layer and Efficiency:- It is introduced to exclude affluent members within reserved categories from availing reservation benefits and aims to ensure that most individuals receive support.
Disadvantages of reservation policy in India
Perpetuating Casts Divisions May inadvertently reinforce caste divisions in Society hindering efforts towards building a more egalitarian society. It is ensuring equal Opportunities levels the playing field, enabling individuals from marginalized backgrounds to compete on Merit.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed Reservation Policies in Indian Colleges: What Every Student Should Know. In the reservation system in India, The central government notifies casts as SC, ST, or OBC categories based on socio-historical background,