<P> The 81st amendment was made to the Constitution to permit the government to treat the backlog of reserved vacancies as a separate and distinct group, to which the ceiling of 50 per cent did not apply . The 82nd amendment inserted a provision in Article 335 to enable states to give concessions to SC / ST candidates in promotion . </P> <P> The validity of all the above four amendments was challenged in the Supreme Court through various petitions clubbed together in M. Nagaraj & Others vs. Union of India & Others, mainly on the ground that these altered the Basic Structure of the Constitution . In 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the amendments but stipulated that the concerned state will have to show, in each case, the existence of "compelling reasons" - which include "backwardness", "inadequacy of representation" and overall "administrative efficiency - before making provisions for reservation . The court further held that these provisions are merely enabling provisions . If a state government wishes to make provisions for reservation to SC / STs in promotion, the state has to collect quantifiable data showing backwardness of the class and inadequacy of representation of that class . </P> <P> In 2007, the Government of Uttar Pradesh introduced reservation in job promotions . However, citing the Supreme Court decision, the policy was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Allahabad High Court in 2011 . The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court, which upheld it in 2012 by rejecting the government's argument because it failed to furnish sufficient valid data to justify the move to promote employees on a caste basis . </P> <P> In India scholarships or student aid is available for--SCs, STs, BCs, OBCs, women, Muslims, and other minorities . Only about 0.6% of scholarships or student aid in India is based on merit, given the grossly inadequate representation of above mentioned categories in employment and education due to historic, societal and cultural reasons . </P>

What is the reason for reservation in india