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The One Hundred and Third Amendment of the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...
, officially known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019, introduces 10% reservation for
Economically Weaker Section Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in India is a subcategory of people having an annual family income less than and who do not belong to any category such as SC/ ST/ OBC across India, nor to MBC in Tamil Nadu. A candidate who does not fall under ...
s (EWS) of society for admission to Central Government-run educational institutions and private educational institutions (except for minority educational institutions), and for employment in Central Government jobs. The Amendment does not make such reservations mandatory in State Government-run educational institutions or State Government jobs. However, some states have chosen to implement the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections. Currently, the quota can be availed by persons with an annual gross household income of up to . Families that own over 5 acres of agricultural land, a house over 1,000 square feet, a plot of over 100-yards in a notified municipal area or over a 200-yards plot in a non-notified municipal area cannot avail the reservation. Persons belonging to communities that already have reservations such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the "non creamy layer" of Other Backward Classes are also not eligible for reservation under this quota(creamy layer of OBC crosses 8 lakh limit).


Legislative history

The bill of Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 8 January 2019 as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019. It was introduced by Thawar Chand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. The bill sought to amend Articles 15 and 16 of the constitution. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 9 January 2019, the last day of the House's winter session. The bill received overwhelming support from the 326 members present with 323 votes in favour and only 3 members voting against. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
called the passage of the bill a "landmark moment in our nation's history". The Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha the following day. The House rejected 5 amendments proposed by members of the Opposition.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...
(DMK) MP
Kanimozhi Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (born 5 January 1968) is an Indian politician, poet and journalist. She is a Member of Parliament, representing Thoothukkudi constituency in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India's Parliament). She was also a former ...
moved a motion, supported by
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parties, to refer the Bill to a parliamentary select committee. The motion was rejected receiving 18 votes in favour, 155 against, and one abstention. The Bill, as passed by the Lok Sabha, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 10 January 2019 with 165 votes in favour and 7 against. The Bill received assent from President
Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...
on 12 January 2019. It was notified in ''
The Gazette of India ''The Gazette of India'' is a public journal and an authorised legal document of the Government of India, published weekly by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. As a public journal, the ''Gazette'' prints offi ...
'' on the same date. The 103rd Amendment came into effect on 14 January 2019.


Constitutional challenge

Within hours of the bill passing the Rajya Sabha, non-governmental organization
Youth For Equality Youth For Equality is an Indian organisation against caste-based policies and reservations, i.e. affirmative action. It was founded by students in a number of Indian universities in 2006. It organises demonstrations and legal challenges against ...
filed a PIL challenging the Bill in the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. The
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argues that the Bill violates the basic structure of the Constitution which they claim does not permit reservation based on economic factors. They also argue that a previous Supreme Court judgement had fixed the maximum reservation allowed under all quotas at 50%. The 103rd Amendment raises the total reservation quota to 59.5%. The DMK filed a motion in the
Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...
challenging the Amendment on 18 January 2019. The party argues that reservations should be based on the community to which an individual belongs and not their economic status. On 8 February 2019, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice
Ranjan Gogoi Ranjan is a name. 'Ran' means Battle and 'jan' means public, in olden days this name was given to generous kings who fight battles for the rights of people. Ranjan may also refer to: * Ranjan (actor) (1918–1983) (real name Ramanarayana Venkatara ...
declined to pass a stay on the Amendment, but agreed to hear the petitions challenging the Amendment.
Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
K.K. Venugopal defended the government's position before a three judge bench of the Supreme Court on 31 July 2019 arguing that the 103rd Amendment was "necessitated to benefit the economically weaker sections of the society who were not covered within the existing schemes of reservation, which as per statistics, constituted a considerably large segment of the Indian population." Venugopal noted that Article 46 of the
Directive Principles of State Policy The Directive Principles of State Policy of India are the guidelines to be followed by the government of India for the governance of the country. They are not enforceable by any court, but the principles laid down there in are considered 'Fund ...
commands the State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the population and protect them from social injustice. The Attorney-General also added, "In the country’s higher educational system, private unaided institutions play an important role providing education to over 1.34 crore students in various programmes. It is therefore essential that the socially and economically weaker section gets access to these facilities as mandated in the Constitution." The bench led by Justice S.A. Bobde declared that the Court would reserve its orders and decide whether to refer the matter to a Constitution Bench. The Court declined to pass a stay order and the 103rd Amendment remains in effect. In August 2020, the case was referred to five-judge Constitution Bench for hearing.


Implementation

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced that Gujarat would implement the 10% reservation policy beginning 14 January 2019, becoming the first state to implement the law. Telangana Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi said on 14 January that the state would also implement the Amendment, but would consider making some changes that differ with the Amendment.


Supreme Court verdict

On 7 November 2022,
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
by a 3:2 verdict in Janhit Abhiyan vs Union Of India Writ Petition (Civil) No(S). 55 OF 2019, upheld the validity of the 103rd constitutional amendment carried out to provide legal sanction carve out 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections from unreserved classes for admission in educational institutions and government jobs and held that the 50% cap on quota is not inviolable and affirmative action on economic basis may go a long way in eradicating caste-based reservation.{{cite web, url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/reservation-policy-cannot-stay-for-indefinite-period-says-supreme-court/article66108033.ece?homepage=true, title=Reservation policy cannot stay for indefinite period, says Supreme Court This constitutional amendment pushed the total reservation to 59.50% in central institutions.


See also

* 101st Constitution Amendment * 102nd Constitution Amendment


References

103 103 may refer to: *103 (number), the number *AD 103, a year in the 2nd century AD * 103 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 103 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Field Squadron, a territorial regiment * 103 (Newcastle) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers *103 ...
2019 in India 2019 in Indian law Modi administration Reservation in India