ECONOMICALLY WEAKER SECTION( EWS)

1. Background

• A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, hearing petitions against the 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in government jobs and admissions, will examine whether the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, by which it was introduced, violates the basic structure of the Constitution.

2. About

• Reservation is a form of positive discrimination, created to promote equality among marginalized sections and to protect them from social and historical injustice. 
• Generally, it means giving preferential treatment to marginalized sections of society in employment and access to education. 
• All the companies, societies, trusts, limited liability partnership firms, partnership firms and any person employing 10 or more persons and an entity, as may be notified by the government from time to time shall come under the ambit of this Act. 

3. Economically weaker section 

• Another exception to Article 15 was added by the 103rd Amendment Act of 2019 which provided a 10% reservation to the Economically weaker section 
• This clause provides a 10% reservation for economically backward sections that are not included in any reservation criteria. 

4. The reasons resulting in questioning the validity of EWS Reservation

• “It is the case of the petitioners, that the very amendments run contrary to the constitutional scheme, and no segment of available seats/posts can be reserved, only based on economic criterion. 
• As such, we are of the view that such questions do constitute substantial questions of law to be considered by a bench of five judges”.
• The petitioners have contended that the amendments are ultra vires as they alter the basic structure of the Constitution. They argue that the amendments run contrary to the dictum in the majority judgment, in the 1992 case Indra Sawhney & Ors. V. Union of India, that a backward class cannot be determined only and exclusively concerning economic criterion.
• The petitioners have also pleaded that the reservation of 10 per cent of vacancies, in available vacancies/posts, in open competition based on economic criteria will exclude all other classes of those above the demarcating line of such ten per cent seats.
• They contend that reservation in unaided institutions violates the fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution. The State, they say, cannot insist on private educational institutions which receive no aid from it to implement the policy on reservation for granting admission on any criterion except merit.

5. The case brought into reference-Indra Sawhney case 1992

• Indra Sawhney case 1992 ruled that the total reservation for backward classes cannot go beyond the 50% mark. 
• Many states such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Telangana have exceeded the reservation quota above 50%. 
• 1990, when the V P Singh led-government set out to implement the Mandal report (Dealing with reservation) and it was challenged in court. 
• The court in this judgment upheld the 27 % quota that was provided to the Socio-economic Backward classes. 
• The advanced sections among the OBCs (the creamy layer- Economically well off) should be excluded from the list of beneficiaries of reservation.
• Limit should not exceed 50% except in exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations, this limit can be crossed. 

6. Constitutional Provisions related to Reservation 

• 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 in the constitution. 
• Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) case the court examined the scope of reservation and added a cap of 50% for provisions under reservation. 
• Supreme Court in M. Nagaraj v. Union Of India 2006 case while upholding the constitutional validity of reservation for backward sections of the society. 
• Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta case of 2018, Supreme Court upheld that the reservation in promotions does not require the state to collect quantifiable data on the backwardness of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.