How will the 10% EWS Reservation Quota Affect your chances of Getting a Government Job?

The Council of Ministers has approved providing a ten percent  EWS reservation Quota for the Economically Weaker Section of the Society on the 7th of January, 2019. This ten percent reservation quota is in addition to the overall 50% reservation quota for the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Other Backward Class. It means that the 10% quota shall not be adjusted/reduced from the existing 50% reservation quota. As for the unreserved category, this move will prove to be a blow because they shall now be eligible only for admission into the 40.5% seats in educational institutions and government jobs.

EWS Reservation Quota

The Economically Weaker Section (EWS) is a category for those people who fulfill certain conditions. The Candidates who fill such conditions as follows shall be eligible for the EWS Reservation Quota:

• A family should not own more than 5 acres of agricultural land.
• The family should have a residential flat of not more than 1000 sq feet
• The residential Plot area should not be more than 100 sq yards the in the case of a notified municipal sector
• The residential Plot area should not be more than 200 sq yards in the case of a non-notified municipal sector.

If all such conditions are fulfilled, candidates can be eligible for the 10% EWS Reservation Quota.

The Union Government amended the articles 15(6) and 16(6) by tabling the Constitution 103rd Amendment Bill, 2019, which provided a 10% reservation category for the Economically weaker sections.

After the 10% EWS Reservation Quota was introduced, the seats were shrunk. The ST category can compete in 48% of the total seats, the SC Category in 55.5% of the total seats, and the OBC Category in 67.5% of the total seats.

Before and After EWS Reservation Quota

The 10%  EWS reservation quota brought by the Constitutional amendment Bill 2019 will significantly impact the total number of seats and jobs in government offices. The impact of the 10% EWS Reservation Quota criteria will be discussed in this section. Keep on reading this section if you want to know about its impact. If someone is a general category candidate, he will suffer the most. The seats for the General Category were quite low because of the 50% quota for the SC, ST, and OBC. 

The Economically Weaker Section Reservation Quota will make matters worse and tough for the unreserved category students to get into Government Jobs and Educational Institutions. Now, let us discuss the difference in admission seats before and after the 10% EWS Reservation Quota.

Suppose any educational institution has a total of 1000 students; then, before the EWS Reservation Quota Bill came into existence, 580 seats would have been taken by the ST, 655 by the SC, and 775 seats by the OBC, 505 by the General EWS and General Quota, respectively.

After the EWS Reservation Quota Bill comes into force, the same scenario would look like this: 480 seats for the ST, 555 by the SC,675 by the OBC, 505 by the General EWS, and 405 by the General merit category. 

The General merit students will have to compete only for the 405 Seats. The comparison before and after EWS Reservation Quota makes one very clear: the most suffering from this Bill is the General Merit Candidates. The Government has said that the 10% EWS Reservation Quota is to bring about Equality in society.

10% Fewer Jobs or Seats

The 10% EWS Reservation Quota introduction implies that the extra reservation of 10% is to be adjusted from the seats available to the general or unreserved category candidates. The EWS  Reservation Quota means 10% fewer jobs or seats for those in that category other than the Economically Weaker Sections. 

The OBCs who could earlier target 77.5% of the total seats or jobs will now only target 67.5% of the total seats or jobs. The SC category could earlier compete for 65.5% of the total available seats or jobs; they can now only target 55.5% of the available seats and jobs. 

The ST who earlier had a share of 58% can now command a share of not more than 48%. The General Merit quota being the most affected, can now only command 40.5% rather than the earlier 50.5%. 

Conclusion

So now, as the EWS Reservation Criteria have come into force, admission into educational institutions and for Government Jobs have become tougher. Some suggest that the move is beneficial, and some experts believe it will make things difficult for General Category Merit students. However, a fresh debate is going on, and the same has reached the doors of the Supreme Court, which is about the 8 lakh rupees limit set by the Government to decide the criteria for the Economically Weaker Section Category. The court has quizzed the Government regarding the 8 lakh rupees limit. This case is pending in the Honourable Supreme Court, and the same result is awaited.