Criticism on 93rd Amendment Act

• One of the main objections is that reservations may hinder admissions based on merit. Critics argue that admission decisions should be made exclusively on the basis of a candidate’s academic record and not on the basis of their social or caste background.

• The term “creamy layer” describes those SC and ST community members who are monetarily better off and who continue to benefit from reservations while those who are truly deprived do not. To ensure that reservations reach those who need them the most, some suggest that the creamy layer should be denied reservation benefits.

• According to reviewers, institutions would have to lower their standards of learning in order to accept students from the reserved category, which would reduce the standard of education as a whole.

• Opponents argue that in order to assure these area’s success in education, the government should also concentrate on enhancing infrastructure and offering sufficient support to them.

• Reservations, according to some critics, could strengthen prejudices and stigmatize SC and ST children by implying that they require special consideration in order to thrive academically.

The 93rd Amendment Act, which was passed in 2005, is the Constitutional Amendment Act that allowed reservation in admissions for students belonging to scheduled castes/tribes and other backward classes in India. As a result of this law, Article 15 of the Indian Constitution includes Clause (5), which offers the State the power to make special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally underprivileged classes of citizens, as well as for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, with regards to admissions to educational institutions, including private unaided institutions.

The Indian Constitution as well as other laws and regulations primarily govern the allocation of reservations in admissions for students of scheduled castes/tribes and other backward classes (OBCs) in educational institutions. According to Article 15(4) of the Indian Constitution, socially and educationally underprivileged sections, such as Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward sections (OBCs), may reserve seats in government and private educational institutions. This clause provides the state the power to implement affirmative action with the goal of ensuring the admission and development of disadvantaged groups.