Bihar CM Nitish favours hike in SC, ST, OBC quotas

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday proposed to increase reservations for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, as well Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes to 65 per cent in the state, up from the 50 per cent ceiling set by the Supreme Court.

The Chief Minister's statement in the Assembly followed soon after the state released the full report of the controversial caste survey detailing the economic conditions of various sections. Combined with the Centre's 10 per cent quota for the Economically Weaker Sections quota (EWS), the proposed reservation will go up to 75 per cent.

"Quotas for Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes need to be raised," Nitish Kumar said during a debate after the tabling of the detailed caste survey report in the assembly. "We will do the needful after due consultations,” he said, adding that a legislation to this effect is likely to be brought in the ongoing Assembly session.

Currently, there is 18 per cent reservation for EBCs, 12 per cent for OBCs, 16 per cent for SCs, 1 per cent for STs and 3 percent for women from backward classes in Bihar in state jobs and educational institutions.

Nitish Kumar's pitch for a hike in caste-based quota comes two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Bihar government of inflating the population of Muslims and Yadavs in the caste survey. The politically-powerful Yadavs comprise 14.26 per cent of Bihar's population, the highest among OBCs, according to the caste survey.