Govt. approves 10% reservation for poor - Fusion - WeRIndia

Yesterday, the central government announced 10 percent reservation for economically weaker sections in the general category. This reservation is applicable in government jobs and higher education.

This reservation would help several poor upper caste people across the country.

For this, an amendment in the Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution is needed. Hence, a constitutional amendment bill would be moved to bring into force.

The Supreme Court capped 50 percent on quotas and any increase beyond that limit will be subject to judicial scrutiny.

Yet, the government wants to differentiate the economic and social reservation.

It says that the limit of the Supreme Court is only meant for social reservation, but not on the economic reservation.

It may have legal complications in implementation. Yet, the government anticipated the reservation would be beneficial for general population who does not have any reservations so far.

The following criteria will be considered for a person to be qualified for economically weaker or poor in general category.

• Their annual income should not exceed ₹8 lakh.
• They should not own agricultural land of more than five acres.
• Their own home should not be larger than 1,000 sq. ft.
• Their own residential plot should be below 100 yards in a notified municipality and 200 yards in a non-notified municipality.

Though the ministers and the party members of BJP welcomed the announcement of the government, the Opposition parties criticized the move as an ‘election stunt’. They accused the government of trying to fool the people.

Image Credit:- Narendra Modi / CC BY-SA

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PM_Modi_2015.jpg