Reservation benefits for SCS and STS in India

Reservation is indeed the process of setting aside a certain percentage of seats vacancies in educational institutions, government institutions and legislative institutions for the members of weaker sections in a pluralistic society like India. At the national level, the reservation policy originated in the form of Montague-Chelmsford Reform (1919). In 1925 the British Government decided to earmark certain quota in Government jobs for minority communities. The Indian Government implemented reservation policy in 1950. The Supreme Court has favored the combi¬nation of social and economic criteria for extending the benefit of reservation to the weaker sections of India. There is a reservation of 15 per cent for the, scheduled castes and 7.5 per cent for the scheduled tribes in the matter of admission in all the educational institutions. The reservation of 12½ per cent for scheduled castes and 5 per cent for scheduled tribes continued after the coming into force of the Constitution of India. Reservations have also been provided in posts filled by promotion. The benefit of reservation in various posts and services under the Central or State Government has not been derived uniformly by all the SC/ST communities. Articles 330, 332 and 334 provide for reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies for a period of ten years after the commencement of the Constitution of India.