What is right to equality? How is a reservation or affirmative action for
government jobs to Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes protected by the right
to equality?
Answers
Answer:
Reservation in India is a system of affirmative action that provides representation for historically and currently disadvantaged and advantaged groups in Indian society in education, employment and politics. Enshrined in Articles 15 and 16 of the Indian Constitution, it allows the Indian government to set quotas to ensure any "socially and educationally backward classes of citizens" is properly represented in public life. It is intended to realize the promise of equality enshrined in the Constitution of India.
Reservation is primarily given to 3 groups: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, abbreviated as SC, ST, and OBC respectively. These are groups that have faced social and economic discrimination in the past and/or the present and were severely underrepresented in public life. Originally reservation was only given to SCs and STs but was later extended to OBCs in 1987 after the implementation of the Mandal Commission report.