Reservation in India

Reservation is a system of affirmative action in India that was established during the British Raj. Based on provisions in the Indian Constitution, it allows the Union Government and the States and Territories of India to allocate a specific percentage of reserved quotas or seats, in higher education admissions, employment, political bodies, etc., for "socially and economically backward citizens". Since its implementation, reservation has been a subject of massive debates and controversies over its impact, execution and effectiveness, significantly shaping the agendas of political parties and the actions of social groups.

Quota systems favouring certain castes and other communities existed before independence in the British Raj. Demands for various forms of positive discrimination has been made, for example, in 1881 and 1891. Chatrapati Shahu (aka Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj), the Maharaja of the princely state of Kolhapur, introduced reservation in favor of non-Brahmin and backward classes, much of which came into effect in 1902. He provided free education to everyone and opened several hostels to make it easier for them to receive it. He also tried to ensure that people thus educated were suitably employed, and he appealed both for a class-free India and the abolition of untouchability. His 1902 measures created 50 percent reservation for educationally deprived communities. In 1918, at the behest of several non-Brahmin organizations criticizing Brahmin domination of administration, the Mysore Raja Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar created a committee to implement reservations for non-Brahmins in government jobs and education over the opposition of his Diwan M. Viswesvaraya, who resigned in protest. On 16 September 1921, the first Justice Party government passed the first Communal Government Order (G. O. # 613), thereby becoming the first elected body in the Indian legislative history to legislate reservations, which have since become standard across the country.

The Imperial parliament at Westminster introduced elements of reservation in the Government of India Act of 1909 and there were many other measures put in place prior to independence. The depressed classes were provided some seats in 1919 before seeing further increase in 1925.

In 1927, the Madras Presidency provided 44% reservation to Non-Brahmin Hindus, 16% to Brahmins, Muslims, Christians, and Anglo-Indians, and 8% to Scheduled Castes.

During the Round Table Conference of June 1932, the Prime Minister of Britain, Ramsay MacDonald, proposed the Communal Award, according to which separate representation was to be provided for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, and Europeans. The disadvantaged classes, roughly corresponding to the STs (Scheduled Tribes) and SCs (Scheduled Castes), were assigned a number of seats to be filled by election from constituencies in which only they could vote, although they could also vote in other seats. The proposal was controversial: Mahatma Gandhi fasted in protest against it but many among the depressed classes, including B. R. Ambedkar, had to favor it. After negotiations, Gandhi reached an agreement with Ambedkar to have a single Hindu electorate, with backward classes having more seats reserved within it. Electorates for other religions, such as Islam and Sikhism, remained separate. This became known as the Poona Pact.

In 1942, the Scheduled Castes gained 8.5% reservation in central services and other facilities for the first time.

After the independence of India in 1947 there were some major initiatives in favor of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) and after the 1980s in favour of OBCs (Other Backward Castes) and in 2019 for poor in the general category. The country's affirmative action program was launched in 1950 and is the oldest such programme in the world.

A common form of caste discrimination in India was the practice of untouchability. SCs were the primary targets of the practice, which was outlawed by the new Constitution of India.