ABSTRACT
The analysis of the legislative interventions on EWS and upper-caste reservations points out the relevance of substantive equality and the basis of affirmative action. This chapter analyses, across Indian jurisprudence and the discrimination law theory, the aims, roles, and characteristics of substantive equality and affirmative action and also uses these insights to demonstrate the limitations, contradictions, and de facto scope of the provisions. It maps the Indian developments onto discrimination law theory to point out the unsuitability of the EWS and upper-caste reservations from a theoretical standpoint.
