10% Reservation for EWS has been provided through ______.
2022
10% Reservation for EWS has been provided through ______.
- A.
102nd Amendment, 2018
- B.
103rd Amendment, 2019
- C.
104th Amendment, 2019
- D.
None of these
Attempted by 6 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept
A Constitutional Amendment Act is the instrument through which Parliament changes the text of the Constitution under Article 368. Each amendment is numbered in sequence and carries the year it received the President's assent. Reservation in education and public employment is a constitutional provision, so any NEW category of reservation must be created by amending the Constitution itself, not by an ordinary law.
Application
The 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) was a brand-new category, separate from the existing SC, ST and OBC reservations and not tied to caste. To create it, Parliament inserted two new clauses into the Constitution — Article 15(6) for admission to educational institutions and Article 16(6) for appointments in public employment. This was done by the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, which received assent in 2019. Hence the EWS reservation was provided through the 103rd Amendment, 2019.
Cross-check
Place the nearby amendments side by side to confirm the match:
Amendment | What it did |
|---|---|
102nd, 2018 | Gave constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) by inserting Article 338B; did not deal with EWS. |
103rd, 2019 | Inserted Articles 15(6) and 16(6) to provide up to 10% reservation for EWS — the provision the statement asks about. |
104th, 2019 | Extended SC/ST reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies and ended the nomination of Anglo-Indian members; unrelated to EWS. |
Only the 103rd Amendment introduces the EWS quota, so it is the answer.