Question

The Government of India has provided reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes. Are these reservations against the right to equality? Explain.

Answer 1

(i) Such reservations are not against the right to equality. For equality does not mean giving everyone the same treatment, no matter what they need. Equality in real sense means giving everyone an equal opportunity to achieve whatever one is capable of.
(ii) Sometimes it is necessary to give special treatment to someone in order to ensure equal opportunity.
(iii) This is what job reservations do. Just to clarify this, the Constitution says that reservations of this kind are not a violation of the Right to Equality.