Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has proposed raising the reservations in government jobs and educational institutions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Extremely Backward Classes to 65%, in addition to the Central government’s 10 percent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections, resulting in a total reservation of 75%. This would surpass the 50% cap set by the Supreme Court in 1992.
The Chief Minister stated that they would make the necessary adjustments after consulting with relevant parties and aimed to implement these changes in the current legislative session. He also suggested eliminating the three percent quota for OBC women.
Under the proposed new quotas, Scheduled Caste candidates would have a 20 percent reservation, while OBCs and EBCs would have a 43 percent quota, a significant increase from the previous 30 percent. A two percent reservation has been suggested for ST candidates.
Currently, the reservation levels stand at 18 percent for EBCs, 12 percent for Backward Classes, 16 percent for Scheduled Castes, and one percent for Scheduled Tribes.
This proposal came shortly after the presentation of a comprehensive report on a controversial statewide caste survey to the Bihar Assembly. The opposition BJP claimed that the ruling Janata Dal (United)-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance had manipulated data related to the Yadav community and Muslims.Nitish Kumar criticized the BJP’s allegations, especially since his deputy, Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, belongs to the Yadav community.
Earlier, Yadav had challenged the critics of the caste survey to provide evidence.
The Yadavs are the largest subgroup among OBCs in the state, comprising 14.27 percent of the population. According to the Bihar caste survey, 36 percent of the state’s 13.1 crore people belong to EBCs, 27.1 percent are from Backward Classes, and 19.7 percent are from Scheduled Castes. Scheduled Tribes constitute 1.7 percent of the population, and the General Category makes up 15.5%. This means that over 60%of Bihar’s population belongs to Backward or Extremely Backward Classes.
NCW seeks Nitish’s immediate apology for his remarks on women in Assembly
NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson, Rekha Sharma has sought an immediate apology from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his remarks in the state Assembly on the role of women in population growth. The Chief Minister made derogatory remarks while talking of population control with his remarks drawing condemnation from Opposition leaders. NCW chairperson said: “I demand an immediate and unequivocal apology from the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. His crass remarks in the Vidhan Sabha are an affront to the dignity and respect that every woman deserves. Such derogatory and cheap language used during his speech is a dark stain on our society. If a leader can make such comments so openly in a democracy, one can only imagine the horror the state must be enduring under his leadership. We stand firm against such behaviour and call for accountability.” Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women, Swati Maliwal said: “Strongly condemn the disgraceful language used by Bihar CM Shri Nitish Kumar while addressing the assembly. He must immediately apologise!” Nitish Kumar was speaking during the winter session of the Bihar Assembly. The Chief Minister made the remarks while underlining the need for girls’ education to check population growth. In a video, the Kumar is heard saying that the fertility rate, earlier at 4.3%, has now dropped to 2.9% as per a report last year. The Bihar BJP targeted Bihar CM on his remark and said “There hasn’t been a leader more vulgar than Nitish Kumar in Indian politics. It appears that Nitish babu’s is bitten by ‘adult, B-grade films’ bug. There should be a ban on his double-meaning remarks. It seems he has been influenced by the company he keeps.”
