EWS Quota

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• A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 has upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act.
• Petitioner arguments: The amendment violates the basic structure of the Constitution. However, there is no clear definition of basic structure.
  • It violates the Supreme Court’s 1992 ruling in Indra Sawhney & Ors v Union of India, which restricted reservations to 50%. The court held that economic backwardness cannot be the sole criterion for identifying a backward class.
• Government Arguments: The government argued that under Article 46 of the Indian Constitution, the state has a duty to protect the interests of economically weaker sections: “The state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.”
• Arguments by the judges in favour of EWS reservation;
  • Reservation based only on economic criteria does not damage the basic structure of the Constitution.
  • Treating EWS as a separate class would be a reasonable classification, and treating unequals equally would violate the principle of equality under the Constitution.
• Arguments by the judges in against EWS reservation;
  • While reservation on economic criteria is not violative of the basic structure of the Constitution, excluding SC/ST/OBC from the purview of EWS is a clear violation of the basic structure.

Details

• In 2019, The Indian parliament has passed the 103rd Amendment act that inserted Articles 15(6) and 16(6) in the Constitution of India to provide up to 10% reservation to the economically weaker sections (EWS) among non-OBC and non-SC/ST sections of the population.
  • The amendment introduced a quota for the poor among the so-called ‘forward castes’ or ‘general category’.
• The 10% EWS quota is available in admissions to higher educational institutions, and initial recruitment in central government jobs.
• The amendment also empowered state governments to provide reservations based on economic backwardness.

Economically Weaker Section (EWS)

• Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in India is a subcategory of people belonging to the Economy Based Un-Reserved Category having an annual family income of less than ₹8 lakh and who do not belong to any category such as SC/ST/OBC across India.
  • Candidates who do not fall under SC/ST/OBC and fulfil the EWS economic criteria are to be part of the EWS category.
• In January 2019, the Union Council of Ministers approved a 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in the General category.
  • The cabinet decided that this would be over and above the existing 50% reservation for SC/ST/OBC categories.
• The 103rd Amendment of the Constitution of India amended articles 15(6) and 16(6) of the Constitution of India to permit 10% reservations to the EWS category students among the unreserved category or General category students.
  • Several state cabinets approved the law and announced their intention to implement the 10% EWS reservations.

Eligibility Criteria under EWS Reservation

• The eligibility to get the EWS certificate is not only purely based on annual family income but also based on the held property.
• The central government has set the income limit for admission to central government-owned colleges and jobs offered by the central government.
  • State governments are given the authority to change the eligibility criteria and also to extend the income limit further for candidates seeking reservation under the EWS category, which will be valid only in state-owned colleges and state government jobs as deemed fit for the respective states.
• Criteria for identifying EWS quota;
  • The candidate's annual family income must be less than Rs. 8 lakhs per annum.
  • Their family must not own more than 5 acres of agricultural land.
  • The residential flat area should be below 1000 sq ft.
  • The residential plot's area should be below 100 square yards if in a notified municipality sector.
  • The residential plot's area should be below 200 square yards if in a non-notified municipality sector.

Significance of EWS Reservation

• People belonging to the Economically Weaker Section now get 10% reservation in education and government jobs in India (vertical reservations) similar to OBC, SC, and ST.
• This reservation weakened the pace of many reservation agitations such as the Jat reservation movement, the Patidar reservation movement, and the Kapu reservation movement.

Concern

• Aspirants from the EWS category are not fully satisfied with this reservation because it does not include many benefits like age relaxation, fee relaxation, etc.
• In Indra Sawhney's Judgement, a nine-judge bench had struck down a provision that provided 10% reservation for the economically backward on the ground that economic Criteria Cannot be the Sole basis to determine backwardness.
• In Nagaraj's judgment, a Constitution Bench ruled that equality is part of the basic structure of the Constitution. It is said the 50% ceiling, among other things, was a constitutional requirement without which the Structure of equality of opportunity would Collapse.
• Another issue is whether reservations can go to a Section that is already adequately represented in Public Employment.
• One of the Criteria has an income limit of less than 8 lakh Per Annum, National Sample Survey Shows that the annual per Capita expenditure for 99% of households fall under this limit, even if we apply all the other Criteria for exclusion the bill would Still Cover over 95% of households.

Way Forward

• The general problem faced by children and youth of so-called Socially Advanced Castes who are poor is that they are not able to afford education. This problem needs to be resolved by the scheme of scholarships and educational loans so that no child or youth of any caste has to drop out of education at any stage due to financial incapacity.
• Future economic growth in India is going to come from the Private Sector and entrepreneurship. To ensure that all Indians, regardless of caste, class and religion, can take part in economic growth, we must focus on basic skills. We need to focus on reducing inequalities where they 1st emerge, within primary Schools.
• The Provision of Reservation to some communities aims at empowering them and ensuring their participation in the decision-making process of the State and enabling them to contribute to Nation building.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-law/quotas-poor-forward-castes-supreme-court-rule-8254179/

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