Reservation system

           

                         Reservation System

The system of reservation in India is designed to promote, or provide opportunities to the various legislatures, to government jobs, and to enrollment in higher educational institutions, and can be regarded as a type of affirmative action policy. The reservation nourishes the historically disadvantaged caste and tribe, listed as schedule caste and schedule tribe by the Government of india, also those designated as Other Backward Classes(OBC s) and also the economically backward general. The reservation is undertaken to address the historic oppression, inequality, and discrimination faced by those communities and to give these communities a place. It is intended to realise the promise of equality enshrined in the Constitution.

The Constitution prohibits untouchability and obligates the state to make special provision for the betterment of the SC's and STs. Over the years, the quota categories have been expanded beyond those to the OBC's.

Reservation is governed by the Constitution, statutory laws and local rules and regulations. The SCs, STs and OBCs, and in some states Backward Classes among Muslims under a category called BC(M), are the primary beneficiaries of the reservation policies. There have been protests from groups outside the system who feel that it is inequitable.

It is observed that even after 70 years of reservation the backward classes haven't been benefitted the way they should have been and reservation keeps getting extended after every 10 years. One of the major reasons for this is no income cap on ST/SC reservations unlike OBC and EWS reservations where there is an income cap so that once a person is benefitted by reservation and is capable of earning a livelihood, he is no longer entitled to reservation. As there is no concept of creamy layer in ST/SC reservations, even the son, grandson and great grand son of any class A officer gets the benefits of reservation who himself got reservation. So the benefits get siphoned off by the effluent ST/SC's and are not able to percolate to the lower strata. Even the honourable Supreme court of India has directed the central government to introduce creamy layer concept in ST/SC reservation, but this is not possible because of vote bank politics. So reservation is necessary in a country like India but rules for availing it should be changed for the overall development of people of backward classes.