To all the people questioning YFE:
How was YFE started?
When the Congress government in 2006 announced 27% OBC reservation in higher education institutions such as IITs, IIMs, AIIMS and other central institutions, many students, along with professors and doctors, primarily from the medical field, protested against it. This led to the formation of YFE, Youth for Equality.
5 April 2006: Arjun Singh's OBC reservation proposal became the trigger.
26 April 2006: Students at the University College of Medical Sciences, UCMS, Delhi, met in the hostel and decided to create a forum called Youth for Equality.
This movement organised strikes, hunger strikes and demonstrations at India Gate and elsewhere.
YFE currently has no political affiliation with any leader of any prominent party, whether it is AAP, Congress, BJP, RJD, SP, etc.
Funding of YFE
YFE currently has more than 4-5 lakh people associated with it.
Who funds them?
The people.
Students who are against reservation.
Lawyers who are against reservation.
Directors and professors of universities who fund them because they do not want this country to suffer.
Many lawyers associated with YFE fight pro bono or charge only small fees. Many researchers work for them for free or for small fees. They also hire the best lawyers, researchers, etc. when they need them.
Major works/cases of YFE
2006-08: Led nationwide protests and fought the Congress-led UPA Government against 27% OBC reservation in central institutions. The Supreme Court later upheld the quota with creamy layer exclusion.
2014: Fought the Congress-NCP Maharashtra Government against 16% Maratha and 5% Muslim reservation. Bombay High Court stayed the quotas.
2014-15: Fought the Maharashtra Government against 16% Maratha reservation under the ESBC Act. The reservation remained stayed by Bombay High Court.
2018-21: Fought the BJP-Shiv Sena Maharashtra Government against 16% Maratha reservation under the SEBC Act. The Supreme Court struck it down in 2021.
2019-present: Fought the Congress and later BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh against increasing OBC reservation from 14% to 27%. The case later reached the Supreme Court.
2019: Fought the Congress Government of Chhattisgarh against increasing OBC reservation from 14% to 27%. The High Court stayed the increase.
2019-present: Fought successive BJP and Congress governments in Chhattisgarh over increasing ST reservation from 20% to 32%. The High Court struck down the enhanced reservation in 2022, and the case later reached the Supreme Court.
2019-22: Fought the BJP-led NDA Government against 10% EWS reservation in the Supreme Court. YFE lost after the Supreme Court upheld EWS reservation in 2022.
2020-present: Fought the Congress Government of Rajasthan against 5% MBC reservation for Gujjars and four other communities. The case is before the Rajasthan High Court.
2021-present: Challenging Maharashtra’s additional 2% Special Backward Category reservation. The case has continued against successive Maharashtra governments.
2023-present: Fought the JD(U)-RJD-Congress Bihar Government against the caste survey. Patna High Court allowed the survey, and YFE moved the Supreme Court.
2023-present: Fought the Bihar Government against increasing SC, ST, OBC and EBC reservation from 50% to 65%. Patna High Court struck it down in 2024, and the State appealed to the Supreme Court.
2024-present: Fought the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti Government against the new 10% Maratha reservation in Maharashtra. The case is pending before Bombay High Court.
2026-present: Challenged Maharashtra’s system of automatically treating OBC communities as politically backward for local body reservation. The case is against the BJP-led Mahayuti Government in the Supreme Court.
2026-present: Challenged the BJP-led NDA Government over the ₹8 lakh OBC creamy layer income limit in the Supreme Court.
2026-present: Challenged the BJP-led NDA Government and medical authorities over the reduction of the NEET-PG qualifying cutoff.
2026-present: Challenged the BJP-led NDA Government and UGC over the UGC Equity Regulations 2026 in the Supreme Court.
2026: Fought the BJP Government of Uttar Pradesh against 91% reservation in MBBS admissions at four government medical colleges in Ambedkar Nagar, Kannauj, Jalaun and Saharanpur. Allahabad High Court stayed the 91% reservation and ordered counselling under the normal reservation limits.
Why shouldn't we support them?