RAIPUR: A special session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a reservation amendment bill that took the total quota in the state to a whopping 76% with the tribal component at 32%.
Called the Chhattisgarh Public Service (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes Reservation) Amendment bill, it was passed after extensive deliberations.
The amendment bill raised the ST quota to 32% and ST to 13% and that for OBCs to 27%. The new element was the 4% reservation to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in educational institutions and the state government jobs.
“The bill will be soon sent to the Governor Anusuiya Uike for assent. In districts where the strength of the EWS is higher, the proposed quota for them may proportionally rise up to 10% but at the state level it will be 4%,” informed Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Leader of the Opposition Narayan Chandel questioned why the report of the Quantifiable Data Aayog was not tabled in the Assembly. “The state government should have presented the data that formed the basis of the reservation,” he said. The opposition also demanded to raise the SC quota to 16%.
In 2012, the BJP regime had raised the total quota to 58% but in September this year, the Chhattisgarh High Court struck it down, which brought down the tribal quota to 20%.