BharatNotes Reservation Policy
noun phraseUsage in a UPSC answer
The Supreme Court's nine-judge bench in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) upheld the Mandal Commission's 27% reservation for OBCs while imposing a 50% ceiling on total reservations, balancing compensatory justice with efficiency imperatives.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
reservation policy (n phrase), reserve (v), reservation (n), reserved (adj), reservationist (n, informal)
Root
Latin reservare = to keep back (re- = back + servare = to keep/save) + Greek politeia = citizenship/governance
Etymology
Reserve entered Middle English from Old French reserver; the reservation policy in India traces its constitutional roots to Article 46 of the Directive Principles and Articles 15-16; landmark judgments including Indra Sawhney (1992) defined its scope and limits
Memory Hook
RESERVE + -ATION POLICY: the state RESERVES (sets aside) seats — like reserving a table at a restaurant — ensuring marginalised groups have a guaranteed place
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The reservation of seats and posts for specified disadvantaged categories in education, public employment and legislatures. The debates to structure a GS2 answer around are consistent: adequacy of representation as the constitutional standard, the creamy-layer principle for excluding the advanced within a group, the tension between reservation in promotions and administrative efficiency, and the question of periodic review. Treat it as an instrument of substantive equality and assess it against that purpose.
Don’t Confuse It With
Reservation is the quota instrument. Affirmative action is the broader category of positive measures, of which reservation is one form. Creamy layer excludes the economically advanced from within a backward group. Adequate representation, not proportional representation, is the constitutional standard being pursued, and the difference is frequently missed.
Hindi Meaning
आरक्षण नीति (ārakshan nītī).
Common Questions
- What is reservation policy in India?
- The reservation of a proportion of seats and posts in education, public employment and legislatures for specified disadvantaged categories.
- What is the creamy layer?
- The economically and socially advanced section within a backward group, excluded from reservation benefits so that these reach the genuinely disadvantaged.
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