Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has proposed to increase reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in government jobs and education to 65 per cent. Since the proposal does not include the central government’s 10 per cent reservation for individuals from Economically Weaker Sections, the total reservation will now go up to 75 per cent.
However, the Supreme Court has capped the state quotas at 50 per cent. Speaking in the state assembly on Tuesday, Nitish hints at bringing in a legislation to this effect in the ongoing session itself.
“The quota for SCs and STs together stands at 17 per cent. It should be raised to 22 per cent. Likewise, the reservation for OBCs should also be hiked from the current 30 per cent to 43 per cent,” he added. OBCs, including the extremely backward classes, accounted for a whopping 63 per cent of the state’s total population, as per the latest caste survey. SCs and STs together accounted for slightly over 21 per cent.
Later, Bihar cabinet passed a proposal to raise the quota for Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to 75 per cent in the state. The move has come after Nitish Kumar proposed raising of the quota in the Bihar Assembly. They have further decided to table the Bill in the State Assembly on Thursday, to raise the quota for Backward Classes in government jobs.
Earlier, a detailed report of the caste survey was tabled in the assembly. As per the report, more than a third of families in Bihar were living in poverty, making do with a monthly income of Rs 6,000 or less. The state was home to about 2.97 crore families, out of which more than 94 lakhs (34.13 per cent) were poor.
The report also acknowledged considerable poverty among the upper castes, though the percentage was, predictably, much higher among backward classes, Dalits and tribals.
As per the report, tabled by parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the state was home to about 2.97 crore families, out of which more than 94 lakhs (34.13 per cent) were poor.
Another important finding was that more than 50 lakh Biharis were living outside the state in search of livelihood or better education opportunities. Those earning a living in other states numbered around 46 lakhs while another 2.17 lakhs have found greener pastures abroad. Those pursuing studies in other states numbered about 5.52 lakhs while about 27,000 were doing the same abroad.
The JD(U)-RJD government held the caste census in the state after the Centre’s refusal to do such an exercise. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had recently taken a swipe at Nitish, saying the state government was deliberately showing inflated numbers of Muslims and Yadavs in the state’s caste survey as part of its “appeasement politics”.
