Bihar Assembly passes bills to hike caste quotas to 65%, past SC cap
PTC News Desk: The Bihar Assembly unanimously passed a bill to increase reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Extremely Backward Classes in state jobs and educational institutions to 65%. This exceeds the Supreme Court's 50% limit.
Before it becomes law, the amended bill must now be signed by Governor Rajendra Arlekar.
The amendments were passed amid a commotion inside and outside the Bihar Assembly over Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's remarks this week on women's education and population control.
Scheduled Caste candidates will receive 20% reservation, while OBC and EBC candidates will receive 18% and 25%, respectively, a significant increase from the previous (combined) 30%. A 2% reservation has been proposed for ST candidates.
Currently, there is an 18% reservation for EBCs, a 12% reservation for Backward Classes, a 16% reservation for Scheduled Castes, and a 1% reservation for Scheduled Tribes.
The existing 3% reservation for women from backward classes has been eliminated.
The amended bill eliminates the central government's mandatory 10% reservation for individuals from Economically Weaker Sections, bringing total quotas to 75%.
Bihar caste survey
Nitish Kumar proposed the amendment on Tuesday, just hours after his government released the full report of the divisive state-wide caste survey. According to the report, 36% of Bihar's 13.1 crore people are from EBCs and 27% are from Backward Classes.
The remaining population is made up of 19.7 percent Scheduled Castes and 1.7 percent Scheduled Tribes. According to the report, the General Category accounts for 15.5% of the population.
This means that OBCs and EBCs account for more than 60% of the population in Bihar.
- With inputs from agencies
