The 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019, is related to:

The 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019, provided for up to 10 percent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the economically weaker sections (EWS) among citizens who are not covered by the existing reservations for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

What the amendment did:

It added Article 15(6), which allows the State to make special provisions, including reservation of up to 10 percent of the seats in educational institutions (including private institutions, except minority institutions), for the economically weaker sections.

It added Article 16(6), which allows the State to reserve up to 10 percent of appointments or posts in government services for these sections.

This reservation is in addition to the existing reservations.

Who is eligible:

• The criteria are decided by the government; for central government purposes, a family income of less than 8 lakh rupees per year, and certain limits on land and property, have been prescribed.
• The beneficiaries must not belong to the SC, ST or OBC categories.

Passage of the Act:

It was passed by Parliament in January 2019, and came into force on 14 January 2019.

The Supreme Court judgment (2022):

• In the Janhit Abhiyan case (November 2022), a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the 103rd Amendment by a 3-2 majority.
• The majority held that reservation based only on economic criteria does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
• It also held that the 50 percent ceiling on reservations fixed in the Indra Sawhney case is not inflexible, and applies to the reservations for backward classes.

Significance:

It was the first time that reservation in India was given purely on economic grounds.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Reservation for women, reservation for OBCs in education, and the ending of the Anglo-Indian nomination were made by other amendments.