Railway
The first state to implement the 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) was:
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Answer: Option B — Gujarat
Detailed Solution
Gujarat became the first state to implement the 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in government jobs and educational institutions, from 14 January 2019.
Background:
The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019 provided for up to 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections of citizens who are not covered by existing reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
It inserted Article 15(6) and Article 16(6) into the Constitution.
The amendment was passed by Parliament in January 2019 and came into force on 14 January 2019.
Gujarat implemented it from the same day.
Eligibility criteria for EWS reservation:
- The family's gross annual income must be below 8 lakh rupees.
- There are additional conditions about agricultural land, residential flats and plots, which vary in some states.
- The person must not belong to the SC, ST or OBC categories.
Judicial review:
In the Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India case (November 2022), a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the 103rd Amendment by a 3 to 2 majority.
The majority held that reservation based only on economic criteria does not violate the basic structure.
It also held that the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations is not inflexible.
The minority judges, including Chief Justice U.U. Lalit, held that excluding SCs, STs and OBCs from EWS reservation was discriminatory.
Implementation by other states:
- Many other states and the Central Government quickly implemented EWS reservation in jobs and admissions.
- Some states, such as Tamil Nadu, have not implemented it in state institutions.
Significance:
- It was the first time that reservation was provided purely on the basis of economic criteria.
- It extended reservation to poor sections of communities that were earlier not covered.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan implemented EWS reservation after Gujarat.
Quick tip
Remember: First state to implement 10 per cent EWS reservation = Gujarat (14 January 2019); 103rd Amendment.
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Constitutional Amendments — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Constitutional Amendments, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the procedure for amending the Constitution under Article 368 and the most important amendments, such as the 1st, 7th, 42nd, 44th, 52nd, 61st, 73rd, 74th, 86th, 101st and 103rd Amendments, along with the basic structure doctrine. Exams ask what a particular amendment did: the 61st lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, the 73rd and 74th gave constitutional status to panchayats and municipalities, the 86th made education a Fundamental Right, and the 101st introduced GST. The 42nd Amendment (1976) is often called the 'mini-Constitution' because of how much it changed. Practise the constitutional amendments questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.