New Delhi (TIP) : Nudged by the Supreme Court to do a “high-level policy rethink”, the Union government has decided to review the Rs 8 lakh annual income limit to identify economically weaker section (EWS) for providing 10% quota in public jobs and educational institutions.
On Thursday, Nov 25, a Supreme Court bench, headed by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, was informed about the Centre’s decision by solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta, who submitted that the government will revisit the annual income criteria by constituting a committee for this purpose. “I have instructions to say that the government has decided to revisit the criteria for EWS. We will form a committee and decide within four weeks…,” Mehta, who represented the Centre, told the bench. The solicitor general’s submissions came following repeated grilling by the top court over the last two months as regards to the methodology adopted by the Centre in fixing the income criteria for EWS uniformly across the country. The 10% EWS quota was introduced under the 103rd Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2019, which is under challenge before a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court. The Act, however, has not been stayed by the apex court.