India's 50% cap on reservations reaching the end of its existence?

By: Anshul Vipat

Despite the Supreme Court judgement, the 50 percent cap has been breached by several states from time to time. The first to challenge this limit was the state of Tamil Nadu with a strong political culture of backward caste politics.

Last month, the Karnataka Assembly passed the SC/ST quota bill increasing the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) reservation in the State. The bil proposed hiking the reservation for SC/ST community from 15 percent to 17 percent and 3 percent to 7 percent respectively. This will, however, take the reservation tally in Karnataka to 56 percent, above the 50 percent cap fixed by the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney judgement.

Previously, Karnataka had 50 percent reservation, of which 32 percent was for OBCs (other backward classes), 15 percent for SCs and three percent for STs. While decision to hike is being seen by some with a political prism, with Assembly elections due in about six months, it has again ignited vicious commentaries for and against caste-based reservation. Without mentioning any political hullaballoo, India Tracker will analyse both the sides of the coin.

Why is there a need for reservations?

Dalits in India are 16.6 percent of the population while Adivasis make up 8.6 percent according to the 2011 Census. As per the Mandal Commission set up by the government in 1980, OBCs amount to 52 percent – estimated using data from 1931, the last caste census conducted in India. This adds up to nearly 80 percent. Yet, the representation of such a large group was minimal in higher education and government jobs. Thus, the Mandal Commission recommended that members of Other Backward Classes (OBC) be granted reservations to 27 percent of jobs under the Central government and public sector undertakings, thus making the total number of reservations for SC, ST and OBC to 49 percent. This recommendations was accepted by the then Prime Minister VP Singh in 1990. Later, the Supreme Court in its judgement okayed the government's decision but capped reservations at 50 percent in 1992.

The exceptions

Despite the Supreme Court judgement, the 50 percent cap has been breached by several states from time to time. The first to challenge this limit was the state of Tamil Nadu with a strong political culture of backward caste politics. In 1993, the state’s Assembly passed the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act to defy the Indira Sawhney judgment and keep its reservation limit intact at 69 percent.

This was made possible by getting its reservation law included in Schedule 9 of the Constitution. Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have proposed introducing reservation exceeding the 50 percent cap.

STATES EXCEEDING 50 PERCENT CAP ON RESERVATIONS

Source: Media reports

Then in 2019, the Narendra Modi government piloted a constitutional amendment through parliament, which awarded a 10 percent quota in government jobs and educational institutions to members of the upper castes on the basis of economic criteria. This was challenged in the Supreme Court where the case is still being heard.

However, at the same time in May, the Supreme Court struck down reservations for Marathas in Maharashtra, citing, amongst other factors, the 50 percent ceiling. Several other states' proposal was struck down by the top court citing the cap gag.

Pressure on 50 percent cap

Many states have demanded a review of the 50 percent cap. The contention being that this percentage is not enough to benefit the large section of the society. The primary contention is no one knows yet the exact figure of the marginalised community groups in the country. The last caste-based census was conducted in 1931. This 50 year old data was used by the Mandal Commission to recommend reservations. The report of Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) conducted in 2011 is yet to be released. There has been a lot of noise by various political parties to conduct a caste based census to find out the exact number of caste population in the country.

Irrespective of the data, states are racing up to breach the 50 percent cap for social and political gains. Several states like Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra are mulling to bring reservation related bills that will push the reservation percentage in the state.

And thus we are asking an important question: Is India's 50% cap on reservations reaching the end of its existence? The Karnataka government has just done that. For others, we leave this question to the viewers to answer.