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The Government of India adopted a 10% reservation quota for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in 2019 under the Constitution’s 124th Amendment Bill. This was to make higher education and government more accessible to the EWS group.
Essentially, this amendment to Article 15 allows the state to make limited reservations for direct employment and higher education based on economic grounds. This reservation will be made only for the economically disadvantaged segment of the General category without altering the other quotas reserved for SC, ST, and OBC.
Now that we’ve spoken enough about the Constitution 124th Amendment bill, we need to know exactly what the amendment in the law is and what the amendment to Article 15 is.
What is the Constitution 124th Amendment Bill?
“The government wants the most backward in OBCs to benefit more from reservation within the allowed limit,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in May 2018, saying that they have set up a commission to investigate OBC sub-categorization.
On January 12, the President signed the Constitution 124th Amendment Bill. Two fundamental rights were changed as a result of this:
Discrimination based on race, religion, caste, sex, or place of birth is prohibited under Article 15. Article 16 of the Constitution bans discrimination in government employment.
The amendment calls for advancing society’s “economically weaker groups.” It also mentions Article 46, which requests that the government promote the educational and economic interests of the society’s poorer members.
After discussing the amendment to Article 15, it is necessary to know who comes under the EWS category.
Criteria for EWS Category:
“Economically weaker portions” must be designated by the State from time to time due to household wealth and other indications of economic disadvantage for the Articles 15 and 16.’
The Indian government has established a set of criteria for recognising the EWS. However, under the law, states will have the authority to decide on the income criterion for recipients, according to Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. This class will be separate from the previously mentioned SCs, STs, and socially and educationally disadvantaged groups (OBCs).
Amendment to Article 15 in Lok Sabha:
Every measure passed by the Lok Sabha requires a proper majority of voters to favour the bill from both the ruling and opposition parties. Only when the law has received a majority of votes can it be passed.
The Constitution 124th Amendment Bill was proposed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, 2019, and the Lok Sabha passed it on the same day with a majority vote of over 300 in favour of the bill.
After getting to know every part of the Amendment bill, there must be a question that should be hovering in mind. That is done. We have such reservations in our country, and is it right to provide such reservations for a particular social category?
Do We Need Reservation in India?
Reservation is a technique the government employs to help uplift the weaker sectors of society and ensure that they have the same rights as other community members.
Reservation was implemented for the economically weaker sector of society in the Constitution 124th Amendment Bill, where people can obtain the same opportunity for higher education as others and have every possible possibility to uplift themselves for a better future.
Conclusion:
After the amendment to Article 15, it drew criticism from many parts of society. Investigations were conducted to see if the Constitution 124th Amendment Bill had any negative consequences, but no such objections were found.
The bill received the president’s support and was signed into law. Still, to eliminate the feeling of bias toward one group and to prevent people from using it as a criterion for obtaining a vote bank, a proper rule must be established that after a certain number of years, when the economically weaker group has received a handful of opportunities, the reservation quota for them will be removed. Everyone will be on the same page.
