Counting those who qualify as EWS 

News: Supreme court  has sought clarification from the Government regarding the basis for the income cut-off for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).  

Government in 2019 issued a circular, which guaranteed 10 per cent reservations in civil posts and services of the GoI to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the society. These sections were not covered under the reservation scheme for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBC). 

What are the criteria used by the Government to identify EWS candidates? 

GoI used two criteria for the definition of the EWS:

– One, the gross family income from all sources — agriculture, business, professional, etc. — for the financial year preceding the application should be less than Rs 8 lakh;

– Two, if the family owned or possessed assets of a certain limit. 

The family includes those who seek the benefit, their spouse, parents, siblings, and children below 18 years. 

What does the PLFS data suggest about the household earnings in the country? 

PLFS provides a good estimate on the issue as its geographical coverage is the entire country, except for villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and it covers all sectors of the economy. 

Based on data on non-SC/ST/OBC, it was found that 99% of rural households and 95% of urban households had monthly earnings less than Rs 66,667, which would translate to approximately Rs 8 lakh annually.  

But PLFS data is based on the current weekly status; there is a possibility that the household had positive income at other times of the year but not the week preceding the survey. Therefore, the earnings data is an underestimate.  

More than 90% of rural and urban non-SC/ST/OBC households had monthly earnings less than the cutoff set by the GoI for EWS income criteria. 

So in this scenario, analysis reveals that more than 90% of rural and urban non–SC/ST/OBC households will meet the EWS criteria. 

Source: This post is based on the article “Counting those who qualify as EWS” published in Indian express on 4th Mar 2022.