Reservation in India, explained.
How the system actually works: the constitutional provisions, the Supreme Court judgments that shaped it, current quota percentages state by state, and the arguments made on every side. Everything here is sourced from statute, judgments and government data, and cited so you can check it yourself.
Reservation in central government posts
The first three categories total 49.5%, just inside the ceiling the Supreme Court set in 1992. The EWS quota added in 2019 takes the total past it. The Court upheld that in 2022. Sources: DoPT reservation orders · Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, (1992) Supp (3) SCC 217 · Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India (2022)
Quick answers
Is there a legal limit on total reservation?
The Supreme Court set a 50% ceiling in Indra Sawhney (1992). Several states exceed it, and the EWS quota took the central total past it in 2019.
Indra Sawhney, (1992) Supp (3) SCC 217 How the ceiling works →Which state has the highest reservation?
Tamil Nadu, at 69%, protected from judicial review by placement in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
Tamil Nadu Act 45 of 1994 Every state compared →What is the creamy layer income limit?
A family income threshold determines OBC non-creamy-layer status. The limit is revised periodically, so check the current figure before relying on it.
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, current O.M. Current limits →Does reservation apply to promotions?
For SC and ST in some circumstances, subject to conditions the Court laid down in Nagaraj and revisited in Jarnail Singh. Not for OBC or EWS.
M. Nagaraj (2006) · Jarnail Singh (2018) What the rules are →Everything on this site
What reservation is
The categories, who they apply to, current percentages, creamy layer, and how vertical and horizontal reservation differ. Start here if the terminology is unfamiliar.
The Constitution and the courts
Articles 15, 16 and 46 in plain language, and the judgments that built the present framework: Champakam Dorairajan, Indra Sawhney, Nagaraj, Janhit Abhiyan.
The numbers
State-by-state percentages, representation across central services, seat distribution in higher education, and what the census does and does not record.
How it developed
From Kolhapur in 1902 through the Poona Pact and the Mandal Commission to the agitations of 1990 and 2006 and the EWS amendment in 2019.
The arguments
The case for and the case against, each set out as the people who hold it would put it, with the evidence each relies on and where that evidence is disputed.
Eligibility and applications
Non-creamy-layer, EWS, OBC and SC/ST certificates: who qualifies, what documents are required, how to apply, and how long they stay valid.
How we work
Sourcing
Every claim cites a primary source: the statute, the judgment, the government notification. Not a news summary of one. We link out so you can read the original rather than trust our reading of it.
Contested questions
Many questions here have no settled answer. On those we set out each position as its holders would put it, identify what each relies on, and note where the evidence is thin. We describe the arguments. We do not adjudicate between them.
Corrections
Pages carry a last-reviewed date. When we get something wrong we fix it, note it on the page, and log it permanently.