Article 16(6) is a provision of the Constitution of India that empowers the State to make reservations in public employment for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of citizens. It was introduced by the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019, which received Presidential assent on January 12, 2019, and came into effect on January 14, 2019. The amendment was enacted to address the problem of economic disadvantage among citizens who were not covered by the existing reservation policies for socially and educationally backward classes.
The provision works by allowing the State to reserve appointments or posts in favour of any economically weaker sections of citizens, specifically excluding those already covered under Article 16(4), which pertains to reservations for backward classes. The key mechanism is a ceiling of ten per cent (10%) of the posts in each category, which is to be provided in addition to the existing reservation. This addition was significant because the Supreme Court, in the landmark Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) judgment, had generally imposed a 50% ceiling on total reservations.
Article 16(6) is closely connected to Article 15(6), which was simultaneously inserted by the 103rd Amendment to provide for EWS reservation in educational institutions. The constitutionality of the amendment was challenged, but the Supreme Court, in a 3:2 majority decision in Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India (2022), upheld its validity. The majority ruled that reservation based solely on economic criteria does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution and that the 50% ceiling is not inflexible. The amendment did not replace or amend any existing reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, or Other Backward Classes, but rather created a new, separate category for the economically disadvantaged.