Examining the Concept of Equal Opportunity and the Application of 'Protective Discrimination' to 'Vulnerable Groups'

In: Contemporary voice of Dalit, Band 9, Heft 2, S. 136-147

Abstract

The Constitution of India guarantees the right to equality, non-discrimination and equal opportunity in admission and public employment through Articles 14–18, while these provisions also recognize certain vulnerable groups of people empowering the state to make special laws for their upliftment under protective discrimination. In this connection, the debatable issue in the contemporary era is: When are these provisions applied to all classes of people and when are they applied to vulnerable classes of people? Whether the doctrine of protective discrimination has any limitation and, if so, to what extent?