


AGENDA
Reviewing the Reservation Policy of India
In accordance with the Indian law, reservations are a form of affirmative action whereby a certain number of seats are set aside in union and state civil services, departments as well as all public and private educational institutions, with the exception of religious and linguistic minority educational institutions, for the the underrepresented Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Indian Parliament where the Bill extended the reservation for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and State assemblies for a further ten years. This was the seventh such extension in ten years since the Constitution enactment in 1950. It has been 75 years since India gained independence yet the notion hasn’t been the same for everyone especially the marginalised groups of our country. The result of reservations hasn’t been felt largely and the need to review the reservation policy is urgent. The committee should also discuss the Women Reservation Bill, that was proposed in the parliament in 2010 and despite it being in both the ruling and opposition party’s manifesto, it still hasn’t seen the light of the day.