Majority support economic status-based reservation but want it to replace caste based reservation

31st January 2019, New Delhi: The reservation system in India so far only catered to the people belonging to Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. But this is not the case anymore. The Government at the beginning of the new year gave a nod to The Constitution (124 Amendment) Bill 2019, which creates provision of giving reservation in government jobs and education to the general category. This means that there will now be a 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS reservation) of the people belonging to the general category too.

LocalCircles conducted a large survey to check the citizen pulse on what they think about the tweak in the reservation system of the country. The survey received more than 30,000 votes from over 12,000 unique citizens, spread across 200+ districts of the country

76% citizens support Govt’s move of having 10% reservation based on economic status

In the first poll, 76% citizens supported government’s move of having 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections of the upper caste. Only 22% voted against it.

This act will benefit all individuals of the General category whose family’s combined annual income is less than Rs 8 lakh, and who hold less than five acres of agricultural land.

50% citizens feel bribery and fraud related to getting economic status certificate will increase post the new 10% reservation scheme

Cases of people trying to get fake qualifications and certificates to benefit from the quota system are not unheard of. Many people have been caught presenting fake certificates at job interviews and admission counseling, just so that they can get in using the reservation system.

In the next poll, citizens were asked if this move will lead to increased bribery and fraud for getting qualification certificates. 50% respondents agreed with it while 40% did not agree with it. 10% were unsure.

92% citizens in support of India completely moving from caste based to economic status based reservation

There have been many talks and discussions in the past where the idea of completely scrapping the caste-based reservation system has been toyed with. 92% respondents in the next poll, also agreed with India moving completely from a caste-based reservation system to an economic status-based reservation system in the next 5 years.

Now that the new amendments have come into effect, the Government needs to prescribe certain documents which would be used to prove the candidate’s claim of belonging to the economically weaker section of the general category.

75% citizens want Income Tax filing and Property Registration documents to become the primary proof to avail economic status based reservation

In the final poll, 75% citizens wanted Income Tax filings and Property Ownership documents to become the primary mechanism to prove qualification, to avail economic status-based reservation. 25% citizens opposed this move. Citizens also said that making income tax filings mandatory might have dual benefits as it would encourage a lot more people to pay income tax. This will certainly give a boost to the income tax collections done in the coming years.

Reservation in college admissions is also an important area that should be looked at. The new job reservation Amendments were passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha within 72 hours. Experts say that the move will directly impact the non-income tax paying economically backward classes and will give them more chances to prove their worth in the society.

Poll Demographics and Participation

Over 30,000 responses were received from 12,000+ unique citizens located in 200 districts of India. Approximately 44% of the respondents were women while 56% were men. 61% of the participants were from Metro/Tier 1 cities, 29% from Tier 2 cities and 10% were from Tier 3 and rural locations.

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