10% quota for general category poor may benefit 51.5 million households

More than 40% of these are in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra

An Act to provide 10 per cent reservations to the economically weaker sections (EWS) of forward/general category households could potentially benefit around 51.5 million households, an analysis by Business Standard shows. Of these, 9.35 million are Brahmin households, while 42.1 million belong to other forward/general caste households (at 2016-17 income levels). 

A closer look at the data reveals that 42 per cent of these households are in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. 

This analysis is based on extrapolating data from India Human Development Survey (IHDS), carried out by the University of Maryland and the National Council of Applied Economic