Reservation in India is a system of affirmative action that provides historically disadvantaged groups representation in various fields such as education, employment, government schemes, scholarships, and politics. The system is backed by the Indian Constitution and allows the Union Government and the States and Territories of India to set reserved quotas or seats, at particular percentages in education admissions, employments, political bodies, promotions, etc., for "socially and educationally backward citizens". The two main aims of providing reservation as per the Constitution of India are the advancement of Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) or any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens (Eg: OBC) or economically weaker sections (EWS) and adequate representation of any backward class of citizens or economically weaker sections (EWS) in the services under the State.

The system of reservation existed in India even before independence, but it was framed by the Constituent Assembly chaired by Dr. BR Ambedkar post-independence. Initially, it was introduced for a time span of 10 years, but post the 10-year period, the legislators of India found the necessity to continue the system of reservation to overcome many years of societal and cultural discrimination of certain sections of society. The reservation quota in India is distributed among applicants for government jobs or higher educational institutions.

The reservation system in India is largely governed by vote-bank politics, and there have been debates on its effectiveness and fairness. While some argue that it is a tool against social oppression and injustice against certain classes, others believe that it has led to reverse discrimination and has not been able to uplift the backward classes effectively.