Background of Caste Based Reservation
A common form of past discrimination, within humanity, in India is the practice of untouchability. Scheduled Castes (SCs) are the primary targets of this medieval practice—a practice, which is outlawed by the Constitution of India. An untouchable person is considered, "impure or a lesser human." However, during the Vedic period a person's 'Varna' (not 'caste') was defined by his/ her socio-economic duties (broadly classified into four classes or Varnas) – these duties were either voluntarily performed or were assigned by the local administrator etc., and 'varna' was initially not defined by one's birth into any particular family. But later on this changed and throughout centuries, even up to now, one's caste is solely defined by one's birth and not by one's achievements or deeds in his/her life.
The main objective of the Indian reservation system is to increase the opportunities for enhanced social and educational status of the underprivileged communities and, thus, enable them to take their rightful place in the mainstream of Indian society. The reservation system exists to provide opportunities for the members of the SCs and STs to increase their representation in the State Legislatures, the Executive Organ of the Union (Centre) and States, the labor force, schools, colleges, and other 'public' institutions.
The Constitution of India states in Article 15(4): "All citizens shall have equal opportunities of receiving education. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the State from providing special facilities for educationally backward sections (not "communities") of the population.” It also states that “The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of society (in particular, of the scheduled castes and aboriginal tribes), and shall protect them from social ''injustice'' and all forms of exploitation." The Article further states that nothing in Article 15(4) will prevent the nation from helping SCs and STs for their betterment .
In 1982, the Constitution specified 15% and 7.5% of vacancies in public sector and 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. The Supreme Court of India ruled that reservations cannot exceed 50% (which it judged would violate equal access guaranteed by the Constitution) and put a cap on reservations. However, there are state laws that exceed this 50% limit and these are under litigation in the Supreme Court. For example, the caste-based reservation stands at 69% and the same is applicable to about 87% of the population in the State of Tamil Nadu. In 1990, Prime Minister V. P. Singh announced that 27% of government positions would be set aside for OBC's in addition to the 22.5% already set aside for the SCs and STs.
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