  India is home to a comprehensive affirmative action program that reserves a
fraction of positions at governmental institutions for various disadvantaged
groups. While there is a Supreme Court-endorsed mechanism to implement these
reservation policies when all positions are identical, courts have refrained
from endorsing explicit mechanisms when positions are heterogeneous. This
lacunae has resulted in widespread adoption of unconstitutional mechanisms,
countless lawsuits, and inconsistent court rulings. Formulating mandates in the
landmark Supreme Court judgment Saurav Yadav (2020) as technical axioms, we
show that the 2SMH-DA mechanism is uniquely suited to overcome these
challenges.
