Constitutional Implementation of Affirmative Action Policies in India

TL;DR

This paper analyzes India's affirmative action policies, highlighting legal challenges and proposing a technically sound mechanism, 2SMH-DA, to effectively implement reservations amidst heterogeneous positions.

Contribution

It formulates legal mandates as technical axioms and introduces the 2SMH-DA mechanism as a novel solution for implementing affirmative action in complex settings.

Findings

2SMH-DA mechanism effectively addresses heterogeneous reservation challenges

Legal axioms can be translated into technical mechanisms for policy implementation

The proposed mechanism aligns with Supreme Court mandates

Abstract

India is home to a comprehensive affirmative action program that reserves a fraction of positions at governmental institutions for various disadvantaged groups. While there is a Supreme Court-endorsed mechanism to implement these reservation policies when all positions are identical, courts have refrained from endorsing explicit mechanisms when positions are heterogeneous. This lacunae has resulted in widespread adoption of unconstitutional mechanisms, countless lawsuits, and inconsistent court rulings. Formulating mandates in the landmark Supreme Court judgment Saurav Yadav (2020) as technical axioms, we show that the 2SMH-DA mechanism is uniquely suited to overcome these challenges.