Bihar’s Quota Hike Laws Must Be Announced at the Center for Inclusion in the Ninth Schedule: Tejashwi

Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister of Bihar, requested on Thursday that the Center promptly announce its intention to add the state’s legislation raising the quota for impoverished castes to 65% in the Constitution’s ninth schedule. This is in addition to the Supreme Court’s 50% ceiling.

Yadav made the demand at a press conference one day after the cabinet approved a plan to add two amendment bills to the Constitution’s ninth schedule, raising the reservation percentage from 50% to 65% in state government employment and educational institutions. This move was made to shield the laws from judicial review.

Several top Nitish Kumar cabinet colleagues joined the RJD leader during the news briefing.

The legislation have to be promptly added to the Constitution’s ninth schedule by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP administration at the federal level. Days after the administration presented a thorough examination of the caste survey report to the assembly, the state legislature enacted both of the quota-raising amendment measures during the winter session.

“Since Bihar BJP leaders claim they also supported both bills in the assembly as well as the council, the Centre must make its intent clear on the issue without any delay,” said Yadav.

According to State Finance Minister and prominent JD(U) politician Vijay Kumar Choudhary, the Constitution of India has a unique clause known as the ninth schedule that enables Parliament to change the constitution to exclude certain legislation from judicial scrutiny.

“Since Parliament is not in session, the Centre can presently make an announcement for putting the state’s laws in the ninth schedule and when the winter session of Parliament starts from December 4, both laws can be included in the ninth schedule,” he said.

He went on to say that the national government headed by the BJP has to come out with a statement right away if it really cares about the welfare of the underprivileged classes.

Senior JD(U) politician and Minister for the Bihar Building and Construction Department Ashok Choudhary had a similar opinion when he said, “BJP leaders, who claim that they supported both the bills, must meet the PM for the immediate inclusion of the state’s both laws in the ninth schedule in the Constitution.”

With approval from Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, the Nitish Kumar administration published gazette notices on Tuesday increasing the quota for underprivileged castes in state government positions and educational institutions from 50% to 65%.

In order to increase the percentage of caste-based reservations from 50 to 65 percent, both laws aim to increase the quotas for Scheduled Castes (SC) from 16 to 20 percent, Scheduled Tribes (STs) from 1 to 2 percent, Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) from 18 to 25 percent, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from 15 to 18 percent.

After accounting for the current 10% quota for economically disadvantaged groups (EWS), the state’s overall percentage of reservation in employment and educational institutions will now be 75%.

The deputy chief minister said that the state cabinet’s decision on the state’s claim for “special status” on Wednesday was necessary due to the results of the caste survey. For the impoverished households, the state government has many assistance initiatives planned. Since all of these measures would cost Rs. 2.50 lakh crore to execute, we are asking for special status for Bihar.

“We shall proceed independently to promote the state’s development if the PM openly states that he does not want to provide Bihar special status. The Prime Minister himself had previously said on many times that Bihar will have special status, but what became of it? stated Yadav.

Yadav said, “PM had spoken about special status… Bihar needs special financial assistance and special status,” in response to a question about the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, which stated unequivocally that “no special category status” should be granted to any state.

Speaking on the subject, Choudhary stated: “States like Bihar are undoubtedly under increased financial strain as a result of the significant growth of centrally sponsored programs (CSS) in recent years. Consequently, the state’s request for special status is entirely legitimate.”

He said, “The NITI Aayog, the premier policy think tank of the central government that provides directional and policy inputs, talks about special assistance to the poorest states, including Bihar.” Bihar may be granted special status even after the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.