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Recently, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced 10 percent reservation for the Kapu community and other Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
Major Highlights
- The reservation has been provided for appointments in the initial posts and services in the State government in accordance with the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019.
- It will benefit Kapus who are neither benefited under Backward Class (BC) quota nor under EWS quota and other Open Competition (OC) sections who are deprived of the benefits of reservation thus far due to non-implementation of the EWS quota.
- However, this will be subject to the outcome of several writ petitions and Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed in various courts and interim orders of the High Court.
- The following are the operational guidelines for implementation of this reservation:
- Persons who are not covered under the existing scheme of reservations for SCs, STs and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) and whose gross annual family income is below Rs. 8 lakh are to be identified as EWS for the benefit of reservation.
- The income includes income from all sources i.e. salary, agriculture, business, profession etc. for the financial year prior to the year of application.
- The term family for this purpose will include the person who seeks benefit of reservation, his or her parents and siblings below the age of 18 years as also his or her spouse and children below the age of 18 years.
- Regarding initial appointments in the posts and services, the people recruited under EWS category will be adjusted against the roster points earmarked for them.
- The orders on the roster points earmarked for 10 per cent reservation to EWS category will be issued separately along with other rules to be framed or amended and guidelines to be formulated if any.
- One-third of the initial appointments in posts and services under the State government earmarked for EWS will be allocated to women among them. This reservation will be horizontal.
- As far as the posts notified for appointment by the Government of India are concerned, the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will be applicable.
Arguments Favouring EWS Quota
- The EWS has not reaped the benefits of higher educational institutions and public employment due to their financial incapacity. The 10 per cent quota is progressive and could address the issues of educational and income inequality in India.
- The reservation criteria should be economic because there are many classes other than backward classes who are living under abysmal conditions but cannot avail reservation and its intended benefits.
- In Ram Singh versus Union of India (2015), Supreme Court asserted that social deficiencies may exist beyond the concept of caste (e.g. economic status/gender identity as in transgenders).
Arguments Against EWS Quota
- Reservation based entirely on economic criteria is not an all-in-one solution, though family income can be one of the parameters.
- Determining economic backwardness is a major challenge as there are concerns regarding the inclusion and exclusion of persons under the criteria.
- In M. Nagaraj versus Union of India (2006), a Constitution Bench ruled that equality is part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The 50 per cent ceiling is a constitutional requirement without which the structure of equality of opportunity would collapse.
- The implementation of the quota is a challenge in itself as the states do not have the finances to enforce even the present and constitutionally mandated reservations.
- It washes away the constitutionally permitted gatekeeping mechanism of social and educational backwardness and makes reservation available to everyone irrespective of social backwardness.
- Reservation has also become synonymous with anti-merit, with the extension of reservation, this opinion might get further ingrained in the public psyche.
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Kapu Community
- The Kapus are primarily an agrarian community based in the Andhra-Telangana region forming the core of the middle castes.
- It is one of the dominant caste groups with political influence in the state and comprises nearly 26 per cent of the state’s five crore people.
- The original cultivator caste migrated from the Gangetic plains, probably from Kampilya (near Ayodhya) thousands of years ago.
- They entered what is present-day Telangana and, after clearing the forests along the banks of the Godavari, settled down to farming.
- This is the reason why even today there is a heavy concentration of Kapus along the Godavari down to the Andhra area
- The Kapus sway is secondary to that of Kammas and Reddys, who they accuse of wielding political power, denying them their due.
- Fight for Reservation
- The first major protest for the inclusion of the Kapus in the ‘Backward Castes’ was held in 1993. A government order was then issued for their inclusion in ‘Backward Castes’. The Kapu leaders accuse the Telugu Desam Party (regarded as a party of the Kammas), which came to power later in 1994, of not honouring the order.
Types of Reservations
- Vertical Reservation
- Reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) is referred to as vertical reservation.
- It applies separately for each of the groups specified under the law.
- Horizontal Reservation
- It refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries such as women, veterans, the transgender community, and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.
- Application
- The horizontal quota is applied separately to each vertical category, and not across the board.
- For example, if women have 50 per cent horizontal quota, then half of the selected candidates will have to necessarily be women in each vertical quota category, which means half of all selected SC candidates will have to be women, half of the unreserved or general category will have to be women, and so on.
Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019
- It introduced economic reservation by amending Articles 15 and 16 and inserting Article 15(6) and Article 16(6).
- Article 15(6): Up to 10 per cent of seats may be reserved for EWS for admission in educational institutions. Such reservations will not apply to minority educational institutions.
- Article 16(6): It permits the government to reserve up to 10 per cent of all government posts for the EWS.
- This 10 per cent economic reservation is over and above the 50 per cent reservation cap.
- The central government will notify the EWS on the basis of family income and other indicators of economic disadvantage.
- In Indra Sawhney Case, 1992, a nine-judge Bench of the SC upheld the 27 per cent quota for Backward Classes and struck down the government notification reserving 10 per cent government jobs for Economically Backward Classes among the higher castes.
- It also upheld the principle that the combined reservation beneficiaries should not exceed 50 per cent of India’s population.
- However, it also held that only in certain exceptional and extraordinary situations for bringing far-flung and remote areas’ populations into mainstream said 50 per cent rule can be relaxed.
- The concept of ‘Creamy Layer’ also became popular through this judgment and also the provision that reservation for backward classes should be confined to initial appointments only and not extend to promotions.
- The EWS quota was challenged due to petitions filed by Janhit Abhiyan and Youth For Equality and 33 others anti-reservation activists.
- Students and job seekers of other categories sought directions to quash the Amendment Act, contending that such quotas for the poor would eat into their share of quotas.
Constitutional Provisions Related to Reservation
- The Preamble of the Indian Constitution aims at securing social, economic and political reservation for weaker sections of the society as an instrument of social justice.
- Article 14 incorporates within itself ‘equal protection of the laws’ besides ‘equality before law’. This means that a state must treat all individuals equally in similar conditions and circumstances.
- Article 15(4) enunciates that the State can make any special provisions for the advancement of any Socially or Educationally Backward Classes of citizens (SEBCs) or for SCs/STs.
- Article 15(5) empowers the state to make any special provision, by law, in relation to the admission to educational institutions for the advancement of any SEBCs or for any SCs/STs.
- Article 16(4) empowers the State to make special provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which in the opinion of the State are not adequately represented in the services under the State.
- Article 46 directs the State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the SCs/STs.
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Source: TH
