Reservation has been imbibed in the spirit of public policies towards the socially underprivileged in India. Indian legal situation is quota-centric in terms of governmental jobs and educational institutions. Reservation is essentially considered as prejudiced with regard to a meritorious candidate as they get disadvantage over a low merited candidate. The 103rd Amendment Act of the Constitution provides an additional 10% reservation for the “Economically Weaker Section” (EWS) of the society in jobs as well as educational institutions. Reservation in the era of independence was intended to attain the eventual goal of development, although it has resulted in further disintegration of the society on caste basis rather than on class basis which was never the goal. The 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act has actually brought a new revolution in the reservation system and its objective is indeed a remarkable move but its execution has not been appropriate. Reservation on the basis of economic criteria is indeed a viable effort to provide an equal opportunity but instead of disturbing the existing reservation scheme it would be more feasible to adjust the 10% reservation by reducing the existing reservation. The criteria provided for compartmentalization of “EWS” is not an appropriate yardstick as it varies according to the standard of living and other associated factors. The flaw found in the factor for categorizing the “EWS” and insertion of 10% reservation beyond 50% index has created a rift in the meritocratic society and somehow established mediocrity over meritocracy

Author:
Prof. Aparna Singh, Assistant Professor, Unitedworld School of Law (UWSL)

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