Congress general secretary for communications, Jairam Ramesh, highlighted that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports had recommended new legislation to enforce Article 15(5) of the Constitution.
New Delhi: The Congress party has urged the government to introduce a law ensuring reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in private, non-minority educational institutions.
ALSO READ: [Nagaland Reservation Policy] 33% Reservation for Women in Nagaland Finally Approved
Congress general secretary for communications, Jairam Ramesh, highlighted that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports had recommended new legislation to enforce Article 15(5) of the Constitution.
What is Article 15(5)?
Article 15(5) empowers the government to make special laws to uplift socially and educationally backward classes, Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST). It allows reservation in both public and private educational institutions, except for minority institutions.
Ramesh reminded that the Congress party had promised to implement Article 15(5) in private educational institutions during the last Lok Sabha elections.
He stated, “In its 364th Report on the Demand for Grants for the Department of Higher Education, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports also recommended a new legislation to implement Article 15(5) as well. The Indian National Congress reiterates this demand.”
History of Article 15(5)
Article 15(5) was added through the Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act, 2005, which became effective on January 20, 2006.
The provision states:
“Nothing in this article or sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of Article 19 shall prevent any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes insofar as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions, including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of Article 30.”
To implement this, the Central Educational Institutions (Reservations in Admission) Act, 2006 was passed. It ensured reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs in central educational institutions from January 3, 2007.
Key Supreme Court Judgments on Article 15(5)
Ramesh explained that different Supreme Court rulings shaped the implementation of this article:
- Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India (April 10, 2008)
- The court upheld Article 15(5) as constitutional for state-run and state-aided institutions.
- However, it left the issue of reservation in private unaided institutions undecided.
- Indian Medical Association (IMA) vs. Union of India (May 12, 2011)
- The court ruled by a 2-0 margin that Article 15(5) is valid even for private unaided non-minority educational institutions.
- Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust vs. Union of India (January 29, 2014)
- The court unanimously (5-0) upheld Article 15(5) explicitly.
- Ramesh noted, “This means reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and socially and educationally backward classes of citizens in private educational institutions is also constitutionally permissible.”
With the legal framework in place, the Congress has urged the government to pass legislation enforcing SC, ST, and OBC reservations in private educational institutions.
