Punjab Govt enhances OBC quota in educational, other institutions to 10%
Chandigarh: Implementing another of its poll promises, the Punjab government has announced increase in reservation of OBCs in educational institutions from 5% to 10%. The reservation quota for members of the backward classes has also been similarly enhanced in technical and professional institutions in the state, an official spokesperson disclosed here on Wednesday. The enhancement in quota comes into immediate effect as the Welfare Department has already issued a notification to this effect. The move is aimed at uplift of the Dalits and other backward classes, which have been suffered extreme suppression and victimization in the past 10 years of the SAD-BJP misrule, the spokesperson said. The Captain Amarinder government had, in its election manifesto, promised several measures for the uplift of the OBCs/Dalits, including reservation in educational institutions and jobs. The spokesperson, however, clarified that the decision does not impact the reservation quota/percentage for scheduled castes/scheduled tribes, which remains unchanged at 25%. The Punjab government had in March 1964 notified reservation quota of 20% and 2% seats for the members of scheduled castes/scheduled tribes and backward classes in education, technical and professional institutions. These norms were revised in 1974, when the state government enhanced the quota by 5%, taking it to 25% in case of members of scheduled castes, and to 5% in case of members of backward classes.
