Indian Constitution Article 16

Explanation

(1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law which [prescribes in respect of employment or appointment to any office under the Government of a State or Union territory or any local or other authority therein, any requirement as to residence within that State or Union territory before such employment or appointment.]

(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.

[(4A) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making provision for reservation in matters of promotion [to any class or classes of posts, with consequential seniority] in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State.]

[(4B) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from considering any unfilled vacancies in a year which are reserved to be filled in that year in accordance with any provision for reservation made under clause (4) or clause (4A) as vacancies of a separate class to be filled in any succeeding year or years and the vacancies of such class shall not be taken into consideration along with the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled for determining the maximum limit of reservation of fifty per cent in relation to the total number of vacancies of that year.]

(5) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any law which provides for the reservation of posts in respect of any class or classes of posts in respect of the total number of vacancies of that year.] Provides that the holder of any office connected with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular denomination.

————————-

Substituted by section 29 and Schedule of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, for “any local or other authority within any State specified in the First Schedule or any area thereof prescribing any requirement as to residence within that State”.

Inserted by section 2 of the Constitution (Seventy-seventh Amendment) Act, 1995.

Substituted by section 2 of the Constitution (Eighty-fifth Amendment) Act, 2001, w.e.f. 17-6-1995, for certain words.

Inserted by section 2 of the Constitution (Eighty-first Amendment) Act, 2000, w.e.f. 9-6-2000.

Explanation

Article 16 of the Indian Constitution guarantees equal opportunity to all citizens in matters relating to employment in the public sector. Article 16(1) states that there shall be equal opportunity for citizens in matters of employment or appointment to any office under the State. The provision of equality applies only to those employments or offices which are held by the State. The State is still free to prescribe the requisite qualifications for the recruitment of employees for government services. The Government may also select and sort out applicants for the purpose of employment so long as applicants are given an equal opportunity to apply for government service.

Article 16(2) lays down the grounds on which citizens shall not be discriminated against for the purpose of employment or appointment to any office under the State. The prohibited grounds of discrimination under Article 16(2) are religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them. The words ‘any employment or office under the State’ mentioned in clause 2 of Article 16 implies that the said provision refers only to public employment and employment in the private sector.

Article 16(1) and (2) provide for equal opportunity in employment in the public sector. However, it is stated in clause 3 of Article 16 that nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law which prescribes for citizens appointed to any office under the State any requirement as to residence within that State or the Union Territory before employment or appointment to any office under the State.

Article 16(4) of the Indian Constitution provides for reservation of services under the State in favour of backward classes of citizens. The State shall decide whether a particular class of citizens is backward or not. Therefore, the State shall prescribe acceptable criteria for ascertaining whether a particular class of citizens is a backward class or not.

Equal pay for equal work

The question of equal pay for equal work was raised for the first time in the case of Indian Oil Corporation v. Chief Labour Commissioner. The case of Chemical Mazdoor Panchayat v. Indian Oil Corporation was remanded by the Supreme Court by the Gujarat High Court for taking a fresh decision on it. The issue before the Gujarat High Court was whether the contract labourers of the Indian Oil Corporation are entitled to equal pay like the permanent employees of the company. In 1992, it was found by the Labour Commissioner that the work done by contract labourers was equivalent to that done by permanent employees and consequently, the labour income