Article 16 of the Indian Constitution

Article 16 assures citizens equality of opportunity in employment or appointment to any government office. No citizen can be discriminated against or be ineligible for any employment or office under the State on grounds of only religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, or residence.

• There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.
• No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence, or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.
• Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of employment or appointment to any office under the Government of, or any local or other authority within, a State or Union territory, any requirement as to residence within that State or Union territory prior to such employment or appointment.
• Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
  • 77th Amendment Act added a new clause (4A) to Article 16, empowering the state to make provisions for reservation in matters of promotion to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe employees if the state feels they are not adequately represented in services.
• Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any law which provides that the incumbent of an office in connection with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular denomination.

Why in news?

Recently Supreme Court ruled that Reservation in job promotions is not a fundamental right. It observed that:

• Article 16 (4) and 16 (4-A) are in the nature of enabling provisions.
• It is the discretion of the State Government to consider providing reservations if the circumstances so warrant. Article 16 (4) and 16 (4-A) empower the State to make reservations in promotion for SC, ST but it is for the state government to decide whether this was necessary.
• The State is not bound to make reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in matters of promotions.
• However, if a State wishes to exercise its discretion and make reservations in promotions, it has to first collect quantifiable data showing the inadequacy of representation of a class or community in public services.

Background

• A second Backward Class Commission was appointed under the chairmanship of B.P. Mandal in 1979 to investigate the conditions of the socially and educationally backward classes and suggest measures for their advancement.
• The commission submitted its report in 1980 and recommended for reservation of 27% government jobs for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) so that the total reservation for all ((SCs, STs, and OBCs) amounts to 50%.
• In 1990, the Government declared reservation of 27% government jobs for the OBCs. ” Again in 1991, the Narasimha Rao Government introduced two changes:
  • Preference to the poorer sections among the OBCs in the 27% quota, i.e., adoption of the economic criteria in granting reservation.
  • Reservation of another 10% of jobs for poorer (economically backward) sections of higher castes who are not covered by any existing schemes of reservation.
• However, in the famous Mandal case (1992), the Court rejected the additional reservation of 10% for poorer sections of higher castes, it upheld the constitutional validity of 27% reservation for the OBCs with certain conditions.
• However, the 77th Amendment Act was enacted in 1995 in order to nullify the ruling with regard to reservation in promotions.
  • It added a new provision in Article 16 that empowers the State to provide for reservation in promotions of any services under the State in favor of the SCs and STs that are not adequately represented in the state services.
• Again, the 85th Amendment Act of 2001 was enacted that provides for ‘consequential seniority in the case of promotion by virtue of rule of reservation for the government servants belonging to the SCs and STs with retrospective effect from June 1995.