SC clears 10 per cent quota for EWS
In a big win for the government, the Supreme Court today backed the 10 per cent quota in colleges and government jobs for the poor or EWS (Economically Weaker Sections), introduced just before the 2019 general elections.
The EWS quota is not discriminatory and does not alter the basic structure of the constitution, said the majority Supreme Court judgment.
The quota bypassed affirmative action that benefits communities traditionally marginalised in Indian society, like the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The quota was introduced through the 103rd constitutional amendment, cleared in January 2019 by the Centre soon after the ruling BJP lost the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh elections. It was instantly challenged in the Supreme Court.
Petitions had questioned how the quota could cross the 50 per cent national cap on reservation set by the Supreme Court in 1992 and whether it changed the “basic structure” of the constitution.