There will be a caste census in the country, the Modi government has approved it. In this meeting of CCPA held on Wednesday, it was decided that the caste census will also be done in the census itself. After this decision of the government, questions have also started arising about whether the provision of reservation in jobs will also be changed according to the caste census. The caste census will help the government to know which castes are more backward socially and economically. On this basis, the government can make a decision. Recently, in Bihar, along with presenting the report of the caste census, CM Nitish Kumar proposed to increase the reservation from 50 percent to 65 percent, which was also passed.

In India, the limit of reservation in government jobs and educational institutions is fixed at 50 percent. In the Indira Sahni case of the Supreme Court in 1992, it was made clear that the limit of reservation should not exceed 50 percent. The argument behind this was given in Article 14 of the Constitution i.e. the right to equality and Article 16 of appointment and service equality. Despite this, many states have made changes in the reservation.

What is the reservation system for jobs in the country right now?

As per the Constitution, 49.5% reservation is being given in central government jobs so far. In this, 15 percent is reserved for Scheduled Castes i.e. SC, 7.5% for Scheduled Castes (ST), and 27 percent reservation limit is fixed for Other Backward Classes. Apart from this, the government had given 10% more reservation to Economically Weaker Sections i.e. EWS by making the 103rd amendment in the Constitution in 2019. This 10% reservation is given to those poor people of the general category whose income is less than Rs 8 lakh per annum.

This is the system in other states.

Tamil Nadu: In the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, 69% reservation is applicable in government jobs and educational institutions since 1993. In this, 30 percent is reserved for backward classes, 20 percent for extremely backward classes, 18% for Scheduled Castes and 1 percent for Scheduled Tribes.

Bihar: After the caste census in Bihar, the reservation limit was increased to 75 percent. These include 20 percent reservation for Scheduled Castes, 2 percent for Scheduled Tribes, 18 percent for backward classes, 25 percent for extremely backward classes and 10 percent reservation for economically weaker general category.

Chhattisgarh: The total limit of reservation in the state is 69 percent. These include 13 percent reservation for Scheduled Castes, 32 percent for Scheduled Tribes, 14 percent for Other Backward Classes, and 10 percent reservation for economically weaker sections.

Jharkhand: The reservation limit in Jharkhand is 60 percent, these include 26 percent reservation for Scheduled Castes, 10 percent for Scheduled Castes, 14 percent for Backward Classes and 10 percent reservation limit for economically weaker sections. In November 2022, the government had proposed to increase it to 77 percent, but due to lack of approval of the Governor, it could not be changed. Haryana: There is a provision of 58 percent reservation in Haryana. Out of these, 20 percent reservation is for Scheduled Castes, while 1 percent reservation is for Scheduled Tribes. 27 percent reservation is being given to Other Backward Classes, while 10 percent reservation is for EWS.

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