SC to hear plea challenging Telangana’s enhancement of OBC quota to 42%, gross reservation to 67% in local bodies

For Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international Significance

For Mains Examination: GS II - Indian Polity

Context:

The Supreme Court is scheduled to examine on Monday a petition challenging an order issued by the A. Revanth Reddy-led Congress government in Telangana enhancing the Backward Class quota in municipalities and panchayats to 42%, leading to the gross reservation in local bodies to 67%.

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Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST)

Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)

Key takeaways:

• The Indian Constitution embodies the idea of social justice by providing for reservations in education, public employment, and political representation to uplift historically disadvantaged groups such as the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
• The framers of the Constitution recognized that mere formal equality was insufficient in a society deeply marked by caste-based discrimination and social inequality. Therefore, they included special provisions to ensure substantive equality.
• The foundation of reservation lies in Article 15 and Article 16. Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth, but it also empowers the State under Article 15(4) and 15(5) to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, as well as for SCs and STs.
• This has been the constitutional basis for reservations in educational institutions, including private unaided institutions, though not in minority institutions.
• Similarly, Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment, while Article 16(4) allows the State to provide reservation in appointments or posts for any backward class of citizens not adequately represented in government services.
• Furthermore, Article 16(4A) permits reservation in promotions for SCs and STs, while Article 16(4B) enables carrying forward of unfilled reserved vacancies to subsequent years.
• Political representation is safeguarded by Articles 330 and 332, which reserve seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies respectively. In addition, Article 243D and Article 243T extend similar provisions to Panchayats and Municipalities, ensuring grassroots-level political participation.
• The policy of reservation is also supported by Article 46, a Directive Principle of State Policy, which directs the State to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections, particularly SCs and STs, and protect them from social injustice.
• Over the years, constitutional amendments and judicial pronouncements have further shaped the reservation framework. For example, the 103rd Constitutional Amendment (2019) introduced reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among the general category under Articles 15(6) and 16(6), marking a major expansion of affirmative action beyond caste-based considerations.
• Thus, reservation in India rests on a delicate balance between the constitutional promise of equality and the need for compensatory discrimination. The provisions are not meant to be permanent, but rather transitional tools to achieve a level playing field.
• The Supreme Court, through various judgments like Indra Sawhney (1992) and M. Nagaraj (2006), has repeatedly emphasized that reservations must not undermine meritocracy but should operate as instruments of social justice within the constitutional framework

 Cap of 50 % reservation

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