Reservation in India

Reservation is established to rectify measures of wrongdoing done towards historically depressed classes.
It is considered as a positive discrimination to empower the depressed classes which include scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, and women.

Before Independence
- William Hunter and Jyotirao Phule in 1882 put forward the idea of a caste-based reservation system.
- The reservation system was introduced in 1932 when British Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald presented the ‘Communal Award’ for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans, and the Dalits which led to the Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar.
After Independence
- After independence, initially, reservations were provided only for SCs and STs.
- OBCs were included in the ambit of reservation in 1991 on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.

Part XVI deals with the 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 reserve 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 new clause (4A) was inserted in Article 16 to enable the government to provide reservation in promotion.
Clause (4A) was modified by the Constitution (85th Amendment) Act, 2001 to provide 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 in the succeeding year, thereby nullifying the ceiling of fifty percent reservation on a total number of vacancies of that year.
Articles 330 and 332 provide for specific representation through the reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Parliament and in 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 maintenance of efficacy of the administration.

The State of Madras v. Smt. Champakam Dorairajan (1951) case was the first major verdict of the Supreme Court on the issue of Reservation. The case led to the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) case, the court examined the scope and extent of Article 16(4).
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 following three constitutional requirements:
- The SC and ST communities should be socially and educationally backward.
- The SC and ST communities are not adequately represented in Public employment.
- Such a reservation policy shall not affect the overall efficiency of the administration.
In the Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta case of 2018, the Supreme Court held that reservation in promotions does not require the state to collect quantifiable data on the backwardness of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)
- The 10% EWS quota was introduced under the 103rd Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2019 by amending Articles 15 and 16.
- It inserted Article 15 (6) and Article 16 (6).
- It is for economic reservation in jobs and admissions in educational institutes for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).