The 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, officially the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019, is a legislative provision that introduced a 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of citizens in government jobs and educational institutions.
The Act originated from the need to address economic inequality and extend affirmative action to economically disadvantaged sections not covered by existing caste-based reservations. It was enacted after receiving Presidential assent on January 12, 2019, and came into effect on January 14, 2019.
The mechanism works by inserting two new clauses: Article 15(6) and Article 16(6), into the Constitution. Article 15(6) empowers the State to make special provisions, including reservation, for the advancement of EWS in educational institutions, including private unaided ones (except minority institutions under Article 30(1)). Article 16(6) allows the State to make provisions for reservation of appointments or posts in favour of EWS, subject to a maximum of 10% and in addition to existing reservations. Crucially, the EWS category explicitly excludes those already covered under Articles 15(4), 15(5), and 16(4), meaning Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes are not eligible for this quota.
The Act connects directly to the landmark reservation jurisprudence, particularly the 50% ceiling on total reservation established in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992). The constitutional validity of the amendment was challenged, but the Supreme Court upheld it in a 3:2 verdict in Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India (2022). The majority ratio held that the 50% cap is not inviolable and applies only to reservations for socially and educationally backward classes, thus permitting the EWS quota to exceed the limit. The Act fundamentally changed the reservation landscape by introducing economic criteria as a standalone basis for affirmative action, a concept previously rejected in earlier judgments.