The right to 'equality of opportunity in matters of public employment' is guaranteed by:

Article 16 guarantees to all citizens equality of opportunity in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.

Main features:

• No citizen can be discriminated against, or be ineligible, for State employment on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth or residence.
• The Article applies only to citizens, and only to employment under the State.

Exceptions allowed:

Parliament can require residence within a state for certain jobs in that state or Union territory. This power belongs only to Parliament.

The State can provide for reservation in appointments or posts in favour of backward classes that are not adequately represented in State services.

Reservation in promotion for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was allowed by the 77th Amendment Act, 1995.

Unfilled reserved vacancies can be carried forward to later years.

An office in a religious or denominational institution can be reserved for persons of that religion.

Reservation for economically weaker sections of up to 10 per cent was added by the 103rd Amendment Act.

Important judgments:

• In the Indra Sawhney case (1992), the Supreme Court upheld 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes in central services.
• The Court also laid down that total reservation should normally not exceed 50 per cent.
• The Court held that there should be no reservation in promotions for OBCs.

Relation with Article 14:

Article 16 is a specific application of the general principle of equality in Article 14.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Article 14 gives equality before the law in general.
• ✗Article 15 bans discrimination by the State in general matters, not specifically in employment.
• ✗Article 17 abolishes untouchability.