Introduction

India, famous for its reservations or affirmative action policies focusing on caste disadvantage, has recently opened the system of benefits to non-reserved categories or general category predominantly comprising advantaged caste groups. These interventions by the central and state governments in redressing the disadvantages of general category groups by their inclusion in reservation policy have established parity with the earlier constitutional commitment to addressing deeply entrenched marginalisation emanating from the traditional social hierarchy of caste. The distinction between historical discrimination-based reservations and general poverty alleviation measures has collapsed and given rise to the policies to accommodate all positions of unfairness in the society under the frame of affirmative action. Assessment of the secondary literature on affirmative action in India and key issues in the discrimination law theory and the equality law theory provides vital tools to analyse and critique these reservation interventions. he chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.