Bihar Assembly has passed the ‘Reservation Amendment Bill’ to raise reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes in state jobs and educational institutions to 65% on 9 November. The bill that raises the reservation quota beyond the 50% limit set by the Supreme Court was unanimously passed by the Bihar Assembly.
It has to now be signed off by Governor Rajendra Arlekar before it can become a law. The proposed reservation would increase to 75% when coupled with the Center’s 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Sections. On November 7, the Bihar Cabinet approved the initiative to enhance the state’s quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
The development came hours after the government presented the complete report of the controversial state-wide caste survey, according to which 27.1% of Bihar’s 13.1 crore residents are from the Backward Classes and 36% are from EBCs. The remaining population is made up of 1.7% Scheduled Tribes and 19.7% Scheduled Castes and 15.5% of people fall into the General Category. This implied that OBCs and EBCs make up more than 60% of the population of Bihar.
The SC applicants are now entitled to 20 per cent reservation under the amended quotas while candidates from OBCs and EBCs would receive 18 and 25 per cent, respectively. This is a major rise from the previous (combined) 30 per cent. A two per cent reservation has been suggested for candidates from the ST at state jobs and educational institutions in the state.
At present, there is a reservation of 18% for EBCs, 12% for Backward Classes, 16% for Scheduled Tribes, and 16% for Scheduled Castes. There won’t be a three per cent reservation for women from lower socioeconomic strata anymore.
The Bharatiya Janata Party brought up the subject of EWS being left out of the bill’s reservation breakdown in the state assembly. “There is no confusion in this. It is clear from the name of the bill that it is regarding amendment in reservation for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes,” claimed Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Cabinet Minister for Finance, Commercial Taxes and Parliamentary Affairs.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar‘s recommendation to increase the caste-based quota was made two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah charged that the Bihar administration had fabricated figures for the number of Yadavs and Muslims in the caste census. However, last week the Minister of Home Affairs remarked that the BJP is still in favour of a nationwide caste census as long as adequate analysis is undertaken.
With 14.27% of the category, the Yadav community is the largest sub-group and would benefit from an 18% reservation for OBC groups. According to the survey, 42% of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe families reside in poverty, and 34% of all families in the state make ends meet with less than ₹ 6,000 a month.
Less than 6% of people from Scheduled Castes had completed their education, meaning they had passed Class 11 and Class 12, according to the data as well. The opposition was accused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “trying to divide the country in the name of caste” following the report’s initial criticism.
The amendments were enacted amid protests both within and outside the Bihar Assembly over CM Nitish Kumar’s remarks this week regarding women’s education and population control. He stirred up controversy on 7 November when he addressed population control in the state legislature. His evocative comments incited a commotion in the assembly while highlighting the significance of women’s education in population control.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, Nitish Kumar’s deputy, smiled at the remarks as did other lawmakers while female MLAs seemed embarrassed. The Janata Dal (United) leader later apologised for his statements and stated, “If what I said was wrong, I apologise for it. I take back my words.”
