Constitution of India, Article-16

Equality of Opportunity in Matters of Public Employment (Article 16)
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Article 16 Guarantees equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. In the first part of the Article, the general rule is laid down that there shall be equal opportunity for all citizens, wherever they are living, in matters of employment under the State, thereby the universality of Indian citizenship is emphasised. In the next section, the general principle is explained in detail. According to this, the State is prohibited from showing any discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, caste, race, sex, descent, place of birth or residence.

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The next clauses are in the nature of exceptions. According to the first, residence qualifications may be made necessary in the case of appointments under the State for particular positions. But instead of leaving it to individual States to make any rules they like in this regard, the power is vested in Parliament to prescribe the requirements as to residence within the State. This is intended to make the qualifying test uniform throughout India. The second exception is in favour of reservation of positions in public employment for any backward class of citizens. This is meant to help those who have had very little share so far in public employment. The determination of a backward community is a matter that is left to each State Government. The third exception seeks to take out of the scope of the general principle the management of the affairs of any religious or denominational institution under any special law providing for the same.

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The Central Government has been taking several measures to translate the ideal embodies in Article 16 into practice. It convenes, on a regular basis, a conference of State Ministers of Backward Classes with a view to assessing the measures already taken and suggesting necessary modifications to existing practices in order to produce better results. It also advises the State Governments from time to time on specific actions, such as the deletion of references to caste from official records and application forms for admission to educational institutions and issuing warning against the practice of untouchability to all government servants, etc.
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The States are also advised to adopt economic criteria for the determination of the backwardness of a particular class. But the Governments in the States which are really concerned with the implementation of these proposals have yet to change their attitudes. Most of them are still so much influenced by caste and communal considerations that it seems unrealistic to expect much from them in the near future. Rapid industrialisation and the availability of plenty of new jobs along with a simultaneous expansion of educational opportunities for the backward sections of the community as well as a change in the outlook and attitude of those classes and groups which held a traditional monopoly in public services will gradually facilitate the realisation of the ultimate goal of equal opportunity in public services.