Question

Identify two Constitutional provisions to protect weaker sections in Indian society.

Answer 1

The Constitution allows affirmative action through positive discrimination (reservation) in education and employment, based on caste and socio-economic backwardness for STs and SCs. Later, this was extended to Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Recently, the GOI has announced 10% quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). These reservations are restricted to governmentrun or government-aided institutions. The Central Government has fixed 15% reservations for SCs, 7.5% for STs and 27% for OBCs. A sizeable proportion of Scheduled Castes who have embraced Buddhism and Christianity also qualify for such reservations.