The Bihar Assembly has unanimously passed the Bihar Reservation Amendment Bill, which seeks to increase reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) in government jobs and educational institutions from 50% to 65%. The bill will be sent to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar for approval.
The new reservation quota will be 18 per cent for OBCs, 25 per cent for EBCs, 20 per cent for SCs and 2 per cent for STs. The reservation for women from Backward Classes has been scrapped. The overall reservation quota will now be 75 per cent in state jobs and education.
The Chief Minister also raised the demand for special status for Bihar to advance the state’s development. The Bihar government last month released the report of the caste census it had conducted in the state, which revealed that reserved categories account for over 84% of the population. This is the first time in over 90 years that a caste-based census has been conducted in India.
The total reservation in state government jobs and higher education will now be 75%, leaving 25% of seats unreserved. The bill also eliminates the three percent reservation for women from Backward Classes and excludes the 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections.
The amendments were proposed amid an uproar in the assembly over Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s statement on women’s education and population control. The caste census report released last month claimed that over 84% of the population falls under the reserved category. Nitish Kumar expressed his hope that the Centre would agree to conduct a caste census and increase reservations across the country.
The Chief Minister also raised the demand for special status for Bihar to advance the state’s development, calling on BJP members to support the bill and advocate for special status for Bihar from the Central government, reported The New Indian Express.
Since the 1992 Supreme Court order imposing a 50% ceiling on reservations, several states in India, including Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra, have passed laws exceeding this limit. However, many of these laws are either facing legal challenges or have been stayed.
States like Tamil Nadu have reserved as much as 69% of seats in colleges and jobs in the state government through an Act in 1993. However, this was achieved by amending the Constitution and placing the law in the Ninth Schedule following the Indra Sawhney judgment.
The issue of breaching the 50% reservation ceiling has raised legal complexities, with laws in various states being scrutinized and challenged for potential violations of the Supreme Court’s directive. Despite the legal challenges, some states continue to explore and implement further reservations, posing an ongoing constitutional dilemma.
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