New Delhi (CNN)India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is pushing to implement affirmative action for economically weaker upper caste individuals, a move which supporters say will help provide jobs for the poor but critics have dismissed as a calculated political ploy ahead of the country’s upcoming national elections.
The BJP-backed bill, introduced Tuesday, would amend the country’s constitution to add “economically weaker citizens” to the sections of society eligible for job quotas.
Under the country’s system of affirmative action, the Indian government reserves 50% of jobs in government and places at educational institutions for people from lower castes, or classified as “socially and educationally backward people.”
