New Delhi, 19 June 2021 – Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has issued a fresh order to implement a 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) sectors of education and employment. The state government has been working on the implementation of EWS reservation for the past two years in the education sector, following interim orders passed by the High Court in a writ petition.
As per the Constitution 103rd Amendment Act, the reservation will be implemented for admissions in educational institutions and initial appointments in posts and services under the Andhra Pradesh Government.
AP EWS Quota – Eligibility
In the issued order, the Chief Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Government, Adityanath Das, shared the below-mentioned criteria, which people have to meet to receive reservation benefits in the state:
- People falling under SC, ST, and Backward Class (BC) categories with a gross family income below Rs 8 lakh per annum will benefit from EWS reservation.
- The sources of income can come from salary (private or public), agriculture, business, etc. before the year of application.
- The term family for this will include the people who seek the benefit of reservation, their parents and siblings below the age of 18 years, and their spouses and children below the age of 18 years.
Note: The people who are not covered under the existing scheme of reservations for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, and the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes in the state will now be identified as EWS for the benefit of reservation.
AP EWS Quota – Added Benefits
- Talking about the initial appointments in the posts and services, people recruited under the EWS category will be adjusted under the roster points, which would be earmarked for them.
- The roster points earmarked for 10% EWS reservation will be separately issued alongside other rules to be framed/amended and guidelines to be formulated, if any.
- 1/3rd or 33% of seats increased to accommodate EWS category candidates will be earmarked for women candidates.
- This 33% reservation earmarked for women will be horizontal. This means that women would be provided with equal opportunities as enjoyed by the people under vertical reservation (SC/ST/OBC).
Note: People interested in availing of this reservation benefit must obtain the EWS reservation certificate from their respective tahsildar.
AP EWS Quota – Social Security for Kapu Community
The TDP government had sought to enact legislation in 2017 classifying Kapus as backward classes. However, the bill did not receive the centre’s clearance. The Bill (No.33) and Acts No 14 and 15 of 2019 were contradictory to each other.
- This contradiction underlined that the bill sought to include Kapus in the list of BCs through a separate category BC-F (among the subcategories created for BC), taking the gross reservations for various categories to 55%.
- Furthermore, Das highlighted that Acts 14 and 15 sought to provide 5% reservation to Kapus under the EWS category, treating them as OCs by creating a sub-category within the overall 10% reservation provided by the Constitution 103 Amendment Act, 2019.
On a simple note, the latest order practically annuls the two laws enacted by the previous TDP government in 2019, splitting the 10% EWS reservation into equal halves, with one half exclusively for the Kapu community, making it a sub-category under EWS.
Additional Order from BCWD
Besides the 10% EWS quota, another order was also passed by the Government of India’s Backward Classes Welfare Department (BCWD). It instructed the officials to issue OBC Certificates to non-creamy layer persons among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), mentioning that the income limit has been enhanced from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum.
The Special Chief Secretary (BC Welfare) Anantha Ramu, had directed all the district collectors in the state to issue the OBC certificates to the eligible people having an annual income of 8 lakhs.
