EWS Reservation: The 103rd Constitutional Amendment

For the first time, India created a reservation category based purely on income, not caste or community. This article covers the 103rd Constitutional Amendment: what it changed, how the Supreme Court reviewed it, and who actually qualifies.

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Indian Polity · Polity0166

EWS Reservation

The 103rd Constitutional Amendment, 2019

9 Jan 2019

103rd Amendment enacted, inserting Articles 15(6) and 16(6): up to 10% EWS reservation.

7 Nov 2022

Supreme Court’s Janhit Abhiyan ruling upholds the amendment, by a 3:2 majority.

Uneven

Implementation varies by State. Chhattisgarh‘s own EWS provision remains unapproved.

5 Aug 2026

Government clarifies eligibility rules in Lok Sabha, confirms no amendment is planned.

Income, plus a wealth check

EWS eligibility isn’t income alone. Owning enough land, a large flat, or a big residential plot excludes a family, regardless of its income.

📑 Contents

1Must Know
2Good to Know
3Test Yourself
4Great to Know
5Current Affairs

Must Know

The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019, enacted on 9 January 2019, inserted Articles 15(6) and 16(6) into the Constitution.
It enables reservation of up to 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), in admissions to educational institutions and in appointments to civil posts and services.
Its objective is to extend reservation benefits to economically weaker persons. This applies only to those not already covered by existing SC, ST, or SEBC (OBC) reservation schemes.
A person qualifies as EWS if their family’s gross annual income is below ₹8 lakh, provided they are not already covered under SC/ST/OBC reservation.
Certain assets exclude a family from EWS status, regardless of income: 5 acres or more of agricultural land, a residential flat of 1,000 sq. ft. or more, or a residential plot of 100 sq. yards or more in notified municipalities (200 sq. yards or more elsewhere).

Good to Know

In Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India, decided 7 November 2022, a five-judge Constitution Bench upheld the 103rd Amendment’s validity, by a 3:2 majority.
The Bench comprised then-CJI U.U. Lalit and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S. Ravindra Bhat, Bela M. Trivedi, and J.B. Pardiwala. Justices Maheshwari, Trivedi, and Pardiwala formed the majority; CJI Lalit and Justice Bhat dissented.
The majority held that reservation based purely on economic criteria does not breach the Constitution’s basic structure. This holds even though EWS reservation excludes SC, ST, and OBC citizens from its own scope.
Implementation is not uniform across every State. In Chhattisgarh, the State’s own amendment bill containing an EWS provision, introduced in 2022, remains unapproved. EWS reservation has not been implemented there as a result.
As of August 2026, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has confirmed no proposal is under consideration to review or amend the existing EWS provisions.

Test Yourself

Great to Know

The 50% ceiling on reservation, set in Indra Sawhney (1992), applied to SC/ST/OBC reservations together. EWS’s 10% was designed to sit outside that ceiling, which is part of why its constitutionality needed a fresh Supreme Court test of its own. See Polity0096 — Revisiting the 50% Cap on Reservation for that separate debate.
EWS eligibility isn’t a pure income test. The asset-based exclusions function as a wealth check layered on top of income, catching cases where annual income alone might understate a family’s actual economic position.
A central constitutional amendment doesn’t automatically become uniform policy on the ground. Chhattisgarh’s non-implementation shows that States still need their own enabling legislation for service-level reservation, even after a constitutional amendment settles the question nationally. See Polity0062 — Constitutional Amendment Procedure for how such amendments are passed in the first place.

Current Affairs

On 5 August 2026, MoS Social Justice B.L. Verma gave a written Lok Sabha reply clarifying EWS objectives and eligibility. He confirmed the ₹8 lakh income threshold, the asset-based exclusions, and Chhattisgarh’s continued non-implementation. (Source: PIB)
The same reply confirmed no proposal is currently under consideration in the Ministry to review or amend the existing EWS reservation provisions.

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