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Supreme Court on SC/ST Reservation - Home State

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September 09, 2018

Why in news?

A Supreme Court bench has held that scheduled castes or tribes can avail benefit of reservation in government jobs only in their home states.

What is SC's rationale?

  • A particular community is notified as SC/ST in relation to a state.
  • They do not carry the same status in another state or UT.
  • So the concept would become invalid if migrants from other states are in its ambit.
  • The Court has thus upheld the “son of the soil” principle.
  • Accordingly, if a person’s status migrates with him/her it will amount to depriving the rights of SC/STs of the host state.
  • For the purpose of Articles 341 and 342 in Constitution, the reservation benefits would be within the geographical territories of a state or UT.
  • Also, Presidential Orders issued under Article 341 and 342 cannot be varied or altered.
  • (Article 341 is in regard to scheduled castes and Article 342 is in regard to scheduled tribes.)
  • So the state could not alter the list of SCs or STs by including other castes or tribes.
  • This can be done only by Parliament, and states doing so will lead to constitutional anarchy.

What are the concerns?

  • The ruling strikes a blow at the idea of a single citizenship for all Indians.
  • It makes only the upper castes (not entitled to reservations) enjoy the rights of mobility across India without paying a cost.
  • This makes reservations subjective if granted by the state, and not the Centre.
  • With long-run consequences, this could change the nature of the Indian Union.
  • As, reservations have been a lifeline, given the economic challenges and slow employment creation in initial years of independence.
  • The idea implicit in the judgment is that state reservations are for state ‘citizens’ and not ‘outsiders’.
  • The judgement has thus increased the fears of Balkanisation of the Indian states.

 

Source: Times of India, Indian Express

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