About Reservation In India:

• Reservation system in India is all about making it easier for other sections of the population to have access to government jobs, educational institutions, and even legislatures.
• The origin of the reservation system in India is mainly based on caste systems.
• Because of their caste status, these groups faced historical oppression.
• The idea of a caste-based reservation system was originally conceived by Jyotirao Phule and William Hunter in 1882.
• It was introduced in 1933 when the ‘Communal Award’ was announced by British Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald, which made a different provision for separate electorates for Muslims, Dalits, Anglo-Indians, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Europeans.
• Gandhi and Ambedkar signed the ‘Poona Pact’ after long talks, where it was agreed to have a single Hindu electorate with some reservations in it.
• Reservations initially were confined only to SCs and STs. OBCs were included in the 1991 reservation ambit on the Mandal Commission’s recommendations.

Reservation policy in India to handle unemployment:

• The policy of reservations was started to uplift the submerged sections of Indian society, to protect their rights, and to overcome the cumulative disparities of power, wealth, and culture that existed among various sections of society.
• Instead of becoming a viable instrument for the upliftment of the submerged section of the society, it has created vested interests of the powerful lobbies of society.
• The real problem in fact is not unemployment but unemployability which can only be solved through proper education.
• Since the last two years, there has been a constant reduction in latent unemployment in the Agri sector. But, this labor force in now engaged in an unorganized labor sector which has less to do with reservation.

Motive behind Providing reservation:

• The underlying theory behind the reservation policy by India isunder-representation of the identifiable groups as a legacy of the Indian caste system. The framers of the Constitution believed that, due to the caste system, SCs and the STs were historically oppressed and denied respect and equal opportunity in Indian society and were thus under-represented in nation-building activities.
• The goal of reservation policy in India should be to bring improvement in the welfare of the people who, historically, have been economically and socially depressed.
• The very basic intent is to provide reservations is to bring equity and
  equality. Economically it is redistribution of resources.
• Reservation not only provides social justice but also economic justice as prescribed in the constitution.
• Redistribution creates economy or value addition from an economic vulnerable section of society so plays a significant role in resolving the current crisis.