Vertical reservation
Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Vertical reservation is reservation for social groups, such as SCs, STs, OBCs and the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Each group gets its own separate block of seats or posts. It rests on Articles 15(4), 15(5), 15(6), 16(4) and 16(6). These blocks are the main quotas in India's reservation policy.
Example
In central jobs and institutions, the vertical quotas are SC 15%, ST 7.5%, OBC 27% and EWS 10%.
Don't confuse with
- Horizontal reservation: quotas for women, persons with disabilities (4%) and ex-servicemen. These cut across the vertical blocks. They are filled inside each block, not added on top. In Saurav Yadav (2020), the Court held that a reserved-category candidate with high marks can take an open-category horizontal seat.
Related concepts
- Substantive equality
- Reservation policy
- Reservation in public employment
- N.M. Thomas case
- Horizontal reservation