Social Justice, Democracy and Challenges to Nation-Building
What this domain tests
Reservation policy and its constitutional basis, the meaning of social justice, and the challenges of caste, communalism, regionalism, terrorism and corruption to nation-building are tested.
Core rules
- Social justice means equal opportunity and protection for historically disadvantaged groups; the constitutional basis is Articles 15(4), 16(4), 46 and the Preamble's equality promise.
- Reservation: the Mandal Commission (1980) recommended 27% for OBCs, implemented in 1990; Indra Sawhney (1992) upheld it, capped total reservation at 50% and introduced the creamy-layer exclusion. The 103rd Amendment (2019) added 10% for economically weaker sections.
- Nation-building challenges: casteism, communalism, linguism, regionalism, secessionism, terrorism, Naxalism, corruption and misinformation.
- Correctives: secularism (sarva dharma sambhava), federal accommodation, linguistic reorganisation (1956), the anti-defection law, and welfare schemes.
Worked example
A state reserves 60% of seats in state medical colleges. Is it valid? Reasoning: the 50% cap from Indra Sawhney applies unless extraordinary circumstances are shown; a 60% quota would likely fail. The state must also justify the backwardness of the group and keep the creamy layer out. The answer must cite Article 15(4) as an enabling provision, not a mandate.
Traps
- Treating the 50% cap as absolute; courts have allowed exceptions.
- Saying Article 16(4) obliges the state to reserve posts; it is enabling.
- Confusing the Mandal Commission with the Kalelkar Commission.
- Describing communalism as only a law-and-order problem, ignoring its political and social roots.