The subject of reservation in government and public sector jobs in India is something that runs deep in the roots of the history about the country and has been through many changes and modifications. This system of affirmative action is an opportunity to provide entry to such marginalized communities that have been historically excluded and excluded from society. As time goes by, policies about reservation find a way into debates and litigation, primarily through promotions on the job.
Reservation Categories in Government Jobs
Reservation on government jobs as well as educational institutions in India is broadly divided into two.
In the reservation category it covers Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and other minorities. Such classes are so defined that, due to historical constraints, affirmative action will be allowed on their behalf due to an ever-widening chasm when other classes come in.
Open Category: Here, in the general category, the population is considered; But for SC, ST, OBC and EWS categories the person cannot avail the benefit of reservation as they are automatically excluded from them due to higher social and economic status. In the reservation category of women, special provisions have been made. Women have been reserved exclusively in 33% of seats.
Preferential reservation can be seen in appointment for government and public sector jobs, which is hierarchically ordered, including both sexes of the candidate: 1. Other Minority Women 2. ST Women 3. SC Women 4. ST Male 5. SC Male 6. OBC Women 7. OBC Male 8. EWS Women 9. EWS Male Finally, the percentage of open candidates is calculated on the basis of all selected candidates of every category of reserved candidates. However, in the open category, a preference for promotion is the same as in the reservation category; hence, care has been taken not to exclude the marginalized.
Historical Background and Historical Initiatives
This is nothing new as reservation in government jobs. The first significant step was the special recruitment for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which was introduced in Kerala in 1972. Vella Icharan’s initiative is landmark in providing equal opportunities to marginalised communities in government employment.
Indra Sawhney Case (1992)
One of the important moments in the history of reservation in India is the Indra Sawhney and others vs Union of India case which came in 1992. In this decision of the Supreme Court, it decided some important questions about the subject of reservation, such as whether the principle of job promotions was based on caste. But declared that such a practice was unconstitutional as it was violative of the principles of equality enshrined by the Indian Constitution. It allowed them to continue for five years.
77th Constitutional Amendment Act (1995)
With the leeway provided for reservation for five years by the Supreme Court, the Government of India passed the 77th Amendment to the Constitution in 1995. Article 16 of the Constitution was amended to provide that reservation in jobs for promotion to SC and ST candidates was not disturbed. This was an immediate reaction to the Indra Sawhney judgment, as the court denied the incentive available to the majority and continued the trend of promotion under reservation.
85th Constitutional Amendment 2001
The 77th Amendment gave rise to the 85th Amendment during the year 2001. The amendment has provided consequential seniority to SC and ST candidates promoted through reservation. This simply means that if they are promoted later than their fellow candidates from non-reserved categories, the individuals will be able to retain their seniority. It was aimed at addressing the lack of representation as well as stagnation at higher levels in government jobs among SC and ST employees.
81st Constitutional Amendment (2000)
The 81st was a very important amendment enacted in the year 2000. Therein, arrears of reserved vacancies were allowed which were constituted as an unusual reservation type without relevance to the traditional or conventional ones of reserved nature. Therefore, it implies that the 50 per cent reservation which a government makes for a specific state does not take any credit by saying that it is nothing but arrears of reserved nature. Therefore, there was no compulsion on the government to reserve its posts with the restrictions of general or customary reservation.
82nd Constitutional Amendment, 2000
In the same year, the 82nd Amendment Bill was passed in Article 335 of the Constitution. Through this, concessions were also given by the state governments regarding promotions. Their objective was that these poor communities, who are now being promoted along with others, should not be left at par with others at least in matters of promotion.
Nagaraj Case (2006)
In 2006, the constitutional validity of the 77th, 85th, 81st and 82nd Amendments was challenged in the case of M. Nagaraj and others vs Union of India and others. In this case, the petitioners argued that these amendments were violative of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court in its judgment upheld the amendments but laid down an important condition. As laid down by the judgments, before providing reservation in promotions, the state governments have to prove that it is due to ‘compelling reasons’. The compelling reasons include, among others:
Backwardness of the class
Inadequate representation in government employment
General administration efficiency
The court has defined that all those amendments have created enabling provisions; the state governments have discretion, there is no coercive force to implement it. If a state feels the need to implement reservation going forward like in Uttar Pradesh, it can collect any kind of statistical and quantitative data.
Reservation and Promotions in Uttar Pradesh (2007-2012)
In the year 2007, Uttar Pradesh, like all other states, adopted and implemented the policy of reservation in promotions. But this policy also faced challenges before the courts. In the year 2011, the Allahabad High Court declared that this policy is unconstitutional as held by the Supreme Court in the M. Nagaraj case. It held that the Uttar Pradesh government failed to produce any data to justify the move.
The state government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court. In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s decision. Here again, the court emphasised that any policy of reservation in promotions must be based on valid and sufficient data indicating the need for reservation.
Current Scenario and Current Debates
An age-old contentious problem in India that continues to reverberate even today is the dilemma of reservation in promotions to offices. While there is a constitutional provision for affirmative action at the workplace, its implementation triggers a debate on a crucial issue-mere merit, social justice and equity.
Critics argue that promotions through reservation undermine the merit principle of governance and lead to inefficiencies among public servants. However, for advocates, reservation is important and must continue because, in the Indian scenario, deep-rooted social and economic inequalities still need to be addressed.
At the moment, the policy of reservation in job promotions is still a subject of judicial scrutiny and political controversy. State governments will have to go for quantitative data that can justify reservation on the basis of need and, as in the case of any reservation policy, try to maintain a balance between the principles of equity, social justice and administrative efficiency.
The history of reservation policies in India is a story of complexities and change. It has been a journey from early initiatives in Kerala to landmark Supreme Court cases and constitutional amendments, balancing the need for social justice with equality and merit. Although the debate over reservation in promotions at workplaces continues, the bottom line of the scheme still remains the same; it aims to provide a society that is somewhat more egalitarian and inclusive by giving equal opportunities to all to move up without fear of bias and inequality.
Education Reservation Schemes
Reservation is a common practice in India in higher education, employment as well as many other criteria.
It is designed in such a way to provide opportunities to historically disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC and EWS. Reservation is considered to be a policy in which a particular percentage of seats in schools, colleges and government jobs are set aside for a particular community. It aims to ensure equal opportunities to those who have been historically disadvantaged or discriminated against. The agenda is to implement equality and distributive justice in education and employment. Categories of Reservation
There are generally two categories in India for which reservation is given –
Reservation Category : This includes a specific category of communities. SC ST OBC as well as EWS.
Open Category : This includes students in the general stream category who do not fall in that reserved category.
Through these categories, reservation is done in admission and is used at many levels, including entrance exam fees, cut-off marks, seat allocation in government college. All those reservations are subject to other government schemes, for example it is like a program with a social approach that is trying to serve a backward community.
India Student Aid
India has different types of student scholarships for SC, ST, OBC, women, Muslims, and other minorities. However, the notable thing is that only 0.7% of the student aid distributed in the country is merit-based, which is based on social equality rather than merit.
Reservation in Central Government Funded Institutions
22.5 percent of the seats available in centrally funded institutions of higher education are reserved for SCs and STs, out of which 15 percent are reserved for SCs and 7.5 percent for STs.
Over time, the percentage of reservation has increased to 49.5%. This is achieved by adding an additional 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). This means that half of the much needed employment in the organization is left vacant for particular groups to provide more opportunities to the previously deprived. The tradition of reservation can also be seen in parliamentary and election processes, in which specific constituencies are always reserved for candidates coming from these constituencies. Many states and union territories have implemented the system of women reservation. It ranges from 5% to 33.33%. This system is to maintain gender equality by providing equal opportunities of education and employment to women as well.
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