Counting those Who Qualify as EWS : Daily Current Affairs

Relevance: GS-1: Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India, Social empowerment.

Relevance: GS-2: mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Key Phrases: Economically Weaker Sections, economically progressed, Periodic Labour Force Survey, current weekly status.

Context

Study reveals that more than 90 per cent of rural and urban non–SC/ST/OBC households will meet the government’s criteria for economically weaker sections.

Background

On January 31, 2019 The Government of India (GoI) issued a circular, which guaranteed 10 per cent reservations in civil posts and services of the GoI to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the society, who were not covered under the reservation scheme for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).

The GoI used two criteria for the definition of the EWS:

The gross family income from all sources- agriculture, business, professional, etc.- for the financial year preceding the application should be less than Rs 8 lakh.
If the family owned or possessed assets, such as five or more acres of agricultural land, or residential flat of 1,000 square feet or more, or a residential plot of 100 square yards or more in notified municipalities, or a residential plot of 200 square yards or more in non-notified municipalities, then irrespective of the income criteria, the family would be excluded from the definition of EWS. The family includes those who seek the benefit, their spouse, parents, siblings, and children below 18 years.

Provisions

The Union Government of India tabled the Constitution (One Hundred third, 103rd CAA) Bill, 2019,by amending article 15(6) and 16(6) of constitution which provided 10% additional quota for the EWS students amongst the erstwhile Unreserved category or General category students.

Analysis of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data

The PLFS conducted between July 2018 and June 2019, covered 101,579 households, of which 31,796 (31 per cent) households did not belong to SC/ST/OBC.
Based on data on non-SC/ST/OBC, it was found that 99 per cent of rural households and 95 per cent of urban households had monthly earnings less than Rs 66,667, which would translate to approximately Rs 8 lakh annually.
The median household monthly earnings in rural areas were Rs 9,000, which was about seven times less than the earnings cutoff for EWS, while in urban areas, it was Rs 15,000, which was approximately four times less than the earnings cutoff for the EWS set by the GoI.
In case of households with zero earnings the analysis reveals that for non-SC/ST/OBC households, 99 per cent of rural households and 94 per cent of urban households had monthly earnings less than Rs 66,667, which would translate to approximately eight lakh rupees annually.
The median household monthly earnings in rural areas were Rs 10,000, which was about six and a half times less than the earnings cutoff for EWS, while in urban areas, it was Rs 20,000, which was approximately three and a half times less than the earnings cutoff for the EWS set by the GoI.

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

The GoI conducts the PLFS to measure labour force participation, employment status, hours worked, and earnings for the usual and the current weekly status (CWS).
The geographical coverage of the PLFS is the entire country, except for villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands that are difficult to reach.
The PLFS covers all sectors of the economy, agriculture, secondary, and tertiary, and employment status, whether individuals are self-employed, have a regular wage/salaried job, or are casual workers. In addition, it also collects data on earnings based on the CWS.

Some recent developments:

A special committee set up to review the eligibility criteria of 10% reservations for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in government institutes and jobs has suggested dropping the existing criteria on residential asset size while retaining the Rs 8 lakh annual income limit.
In a report submitted to the Supreme Court, the panel suggested that the recommendations be implemented only from the next admission cycle and not the ongoing one as any sudden change will cause a m major disruption across educational institutes and create complications for both beneficiaries and the authorities.
The centre told the Supreme Court that it would stick to the Rs 8 lakh annual income limit criteria that entities EWS candidates to a 10 percent reservation in admissions to educational institutions, including medical colleges, and government jobs but promised to tweak other EWS related criteria a bit from next year.

Criticism

The income limit in the criteria for the determination of the creamy layer of the OBC category and the EWS category is the same, namely, Rs 8 lakhs.
While the creamy layer in the OBC category is identified for excluding a section of the community that has ‘economically progressed’ to such an extent that the social backwardness of the community diminishes, the EWS category is identified to include the segment which is ‘poorer’ when compared to the rest of the community.
Therefore (a) the income criterion in respect of the OBC category is aimed at exclusion from a class while in the case of the EWS category, it is aimed at inclusion;
(b) The OBC category is socially and educationally backward and, therefore, has additional impediments to overcome as compared to those belonging to the general category. In these circumstances, hence it would be arbitrary to provide the same income limit both for the OBC and EWS categories.”

Conclusion

Lack of clarity on implementation opens up possibilities to distort or even manipulate outcomes, undermining policy goals. It can confuse the public and keep university or job assignments in limbo for years as courts process legal challenges. India’s new EWS reservation policy is heading in this direction unless these implementation issues are addressed head-on.
The larger issue that remains is whether reservation can be treated as a poverty alleviation measure and those not well-off but belonging to socially advanced communities can be given a share of the reservation pie. The Constitution Bench should resolve this question early.

Sources: Indian Express

Mains Question:

Q.What do you mean by Economicaly weaker sections(EWS)? Is reservation system in India creating impediments in the progress of the country criticaly examine. (words 250).