Chhattisgarh Assembly passes two Bills for increasing reservation to 76% in state
Opposition said that the Quantifiable Data Commission report, on which the decision was taken, was not tabled in the Assembly.
The Chhattisgarh Assembly on Friday adopted two Bills to enhance the state’s reservation to 76% in jobs and educational institutions, PTI reported.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel tabled the Chhattisgarh Public Service (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes Reservation) Amendment Bill and Chhattisgarh Educational Institutions (Reservation in admission) Amendment Bill, which were passed after a debate of more than five hours.
As per the Bills, 32% of the seats will be reserved for Scheduled Tribes, 13% for Scheduled Castes and 4% for Economically Weaker Sections, ANI reported.
After the Bill was announced, Baghel told mediapersons that the previous Bharatiya Janata Party ministers could not form a Quantifiable Data Commission, which was constituted by his government in 2019 to survey people from Other Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Section categories in the state, PTI reported.
The commission submitted its recommendations to the state government, according to which the state’s population has 42.41% Other Backward Class members and 3.48% from the Economically Weaker Sections.
Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel and other MLAs said the Quantifiable Data Commission report was not tabled in the Assembly.
BJP members also pointed out that the party had brought amendment proposals to the Bills seeking 16% reservation for the Scheduled Caste category.
In response, Baghel said that the Census has not been carried out in the country since 2011, and reservations for Scheduled Castes can be amended accordingly when the exercise is done.
In September, the Chhattisgarh High Court had set aside a 2012 state government order to raise quota to 58% in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions. The High Court had said reservation exceeding the 50% was unconstitutional.
According to the 2012 amendment, the quota for Scheduled Castes was slashed by 4% to 12%, while quota for Scheduled Tribes was increased by 12% to 32%.
The reservation for Other Backward Classes was retained at 14%.