Is our government

really biased
towards the
reservation class
of our society ?????

Yeah reservations!!!!!!
A topic which is been discussed often
among us .
So lets have a look on who introduced
reservations in our country , a small
brief history and what are the
consequences being faced by the
unreserved section of the society

What do you mean by

reservations??
Reservation in Indiais the process of facilitating
the person in education, scholarship, jobs, and in
promotion who have category certificates.
Reservation is a form of quota-basedaffirmative
action. Reservation is governed by constitutional
laws, statutory laws, and local rules and
regulations.Scheduled Castes (SC) , Scheduled
Tribes (ST)andOther Backward Classes (OBC), and
in some states Backward Classes among Muslims
under a category called BC(M), are the primary
beneficiaries of the reservation policies under the
Constitution with the object of ensuring a level
playing field.

A brief history
In August1933 round table conference , the Prime
minister of Britain , Ramsay Macdonald introduced
the Communal Awards according to which separate
representation was to be provided for the Muslims ,
Sikhs , Indian Christians , Anglo-Indians, Europeans
and Dalits . The depressed classes were assigned a
number of seats to be filled by election from special
constituencies in which voters belonging to the
depressed classes only could vote.

 The Award was highly controversial and opposed

byMahatma Gandhi, who fasted in protest against
it.Communal Awardwas supported by many among
theminority communities, most notably
revolutionary Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. After lengthy
negotiations, Gandhi reached an agreement with Dr.
Ambedkar (Initially opposed it) to have a single Hindu
electorate, withDalitshaving seats reserved within
it. This is called thePoona Pact. Electorates for other
religions likeMuslimand Sikhremained separate.
Present reservation system has a long history and has
been debated before and after Indian
independencefrom the Britishin 1947.

 A common form of caste

discrimination in India was the
practice of untouchability. Scheduled
Castes (SCs) were the primary
targets of the practice, which is
outlawed by theConstitution of India

Main objective of reservations

The primary stated objective of the Indian
reservation system is to increase the opportunities
for enhanced social and educational status of the
underprivileged communities and thus uplift their
lifestyle to have their place in the mainstream of
Indian society .The reservation system exists to
provide opportunities for the members of the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to increase
their politicalrepresentation in theState
Legislatures, the Executive Organ of the Union
(Centre) and States, thelabour force, schools,
colleges, and other public institutions .

Today, out of 543 seats in India's

parliament, 84 (15.47%) are reserved for
SC/Dalits and 47 (8.66%)for ST/Tribes.
Allocation of seats for Scheduled Castes
and Tribes in the Lok Sabha are made on
the basis of proportion of Scheduled
Castes and Tribes in the State concerned
to that of the total population, vide
provision contained in Article 330 of the
Constitution of India read with Section 3
of the R. P. Act, 1950.

 In 1982, the Constitution specified

15% and 7.5% of vacancies inpublic
sectorand government-aided
educational institutes as a quota
reserved for the SC and ST
candidates respectively for a period
of five years, after which the quota
system would be reviewed. This
period was routinely extended by the
succeeding governments.
TheSupreme Court of Indiaruled that
reservations could not exceed 50%

Beneficiary groups of the

reservation system
Seats are reserved for people under the following
criteria:
CASTE : In central-government funded higher
education institutions, 22.5%[ of available seats are
reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled
Tribe (ST) students (7.5% for STs, 15% for SCs).
This reservation percentage has been raised to
49.5% by including an additional 27% reservation
for OBCs. This ratio is followed even in Parliament
and all elections where a few constituencies are
remarked for those from certain communities.

 GENDER :In 1993, a constitutional

amendment in India called for a random one

third of village council leader, or pradhan ,
positions ingram panchayat to be reserved
for women. Recent research on the quota
system has revealed that it has changed
perceptions of womens abilities, improved
womens electoral chances, and raised
aspirations and educational attainment for
adolescent girls. TheWomen's Reservation
Billwas passed by theRajya Sabhaon 9
March 2010 by a majority vote of 186
members in favour and 1 against.

Critics

say gender cannot be held as a

basis for reservation alone other factors
should also be considered e.g. economic,
social conditions of woman candidate
especially when applying reservation for
educated women. There also is a growing
demand for women reservation in preexisting reservations like OBC, SC/ST,
Physically handicapped etc. Some feminist
groups still demand that reservation for
women should be at least 50% as they
comprise 50% of the population.

 RELIGION: There is no reservation granted

on the basis of religion in the Central
educational institutions at the national
level, although reservation has been
extended to religious minorities in some
states. TheTamil Nadu government has
allotted 3.5% of seats each to Muslims and
Christians, thereby altering the OBC
reservation to 23% from 30% (since it
excludes persons belonging to Other
Backward Castes who are either Muslims or
Christians).

With few exceptions, all

jobs under certain State governments are
reserved for those who
aredomiciledwithin the jurisdiction of
that government. For example, in Punjab
Engineering College (Chandigarh) 85% of
seats were earlier reserved for
Chandigarh-domiciles-now it is 50%. There
are also some seats reserved for the
Jammu and Kashmir 'migrants' in every
Government-aided educational institute.

STATE OF DOMICILE :

OTHERS: Some reservations are also made for:

Terrorist victims from Kashmir, e.g. inPunjab
Single girl child (inPunjab)
Migrants from the state ofJammu and Kashmir
Sons/daughters/grandsons/granddaughters ofFreedom Fighters
Physically handicapped
Sports personalities
Non-Resident Indians(NRIs) have a small percentage of reserved seats in educational
institutions. (Note: NRI reservations were removed from IIT in 2003)
Candidatessponsored by various organizations
Those who have served in thearmed forces('ex-serviceman' quotabecause the age
of superannuation in the Military Service is much shorter than that in the Civil posts;
more so, certain intakes are tenure-based, e.g. the contract for Short-Service
Commission is merely 8 years)
Dependents ofarmed forcespersonnelkilled-in-action
Repatriates
Reservation inspecial schoolsof Government Undertakings/ PSUs, for the children of
their own employees (e.g. Army schools, PSU schools, etc.)
Paid pathway reservations in places of worship (e.g.,Tirumala Venkateswara Temple,
Tiruthani Murugan temple)
Seat reservation forSenior citizensand Physically handicapped in public (bus)
transport.

Education scholarships in India

In India most of the scholarships
or student aid is available only
for OBC's ,SC ,ST , BC, Women,
Minorities & Muslims. Around
only 0.7% of scholarships or
student aid in India is based on
merit

Advantages
The advantage of these reservations is
that they allow these backward classes
a chance at improving their lives and
status in society and getting
meaningful employment. They also get
representation in various aspects of
society and decision making,
something that has been denied to
them for a long time.

Disadvantages
The disadvantage of the reservation is that it
suppresses meritocracy, that is the
availability of options to the most capable
and deserving person. An example may be
taken from the field of education. The top
engineering colleges in India conduct an
entrance test to admit students. However
because of the reservation system, the
reserved seats go to candidates who scored
less than half the marks as compared to
general candidates. This also means that the
reserved candidates are less capable than

So even though the system may

have some merits, it should be
used with caution and not
indiscriminately.

A sad but true story for unreserved

classes

The End
Group members :- ananya k.s.
akash arora
aishwarya
shivangi gupta
shubham