The Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) is a provision for a 10% reservation quota in government jobs and educational institutions for economically disadvantaged citizens who are not covered under existing reservation schemes for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), or Other Backward Classes (OBC). This concept was introduced by the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019, which received Presidential assent on January 12, 2019, and came into force on January 14, 2019. The amendment was enacted to extend affirmative action to the economically poor from the unreserved category, acknowledging economic deprivation as an independent ground for reservation.
The mechanism works by inserting Article 15(6) and Article 16(6) into the Constitution of India. Article 15(6) allows the State to make special provisions, including up to 10% reservation in educational institutions (excluding minority institutions), and Article 16(6) enables up to 10% reservation in government employment. The key eligibility criteria for EWS are an annual family income below ₹8 lakh and the family not owning more than 5 acres of agricultural land, a residential flat of 1000 sq. ft., or a residential plot of 100 sq. yards in notified municipalities.
The EWS provision connects to the broader legal framework of reservation and the 50% ceiling established in the Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) judgment. The constitutional validity of the amendment was recently upheld by the Supreme Court in Janhit Abhiyan v. Union Of India on November 7, 2022, by a 3:2 majority. The ratio of the judgment was that economic criteria can be a valid basis for reservation and that the 50% ceiling on reservation is not inviolable for the EWS category. The Central Government has since retained the ₹8 lakh annual income limit for EWS eligibility.