PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday demanded quota for Scheduled Caste/Tribe and Other Backward Class people in private sector jobs and pitched for increasing the 50% quota ceiling for them in public sector.“When the population of SC, ST and backward class people has increased, their quota percentage should also go up by making amendment to the Constitution. It is the era of liberalization and privatization. Without introducing reservations in private jobs, social justice will not be achieved,” said Nitish after receiving K Veeramani Award For Social Justice presented to him by Periyar International , USA.Nitish also spoke in favour of reservations for dalits in Muslim and Christian communities. “Caste doesn’t change even after changing religion. I had raised the issue in the 14th Lok Sabha,” he said, adding that democracy cannot succeed without social equality and justice.Nitish did not mince words while targeting the central government, saying it had come to power by promising development but what people got was ‘love jihad’, ‘ghar wapsi’ and ‘beef controversy’. “Now they talk of ‘Make in India’, ‘Start-up India’ and ‘Stand-up India’, but will ultimately take the nation to ‘sit down, lay down and sleep India’ stage,” he said.Commenting on the ongoing debate over ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, Nitish said, “We all say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Jai Hind’ and ‘Vande Mataram’. When I heard about a decision to unfurl the tricolour on university campuses, I laughed that at least they have accepted the ‘Tiranga’. Their love for tricolour is new, but our love for it is age-old.”Nitish, however, clarified that he had no intention of moving to national politics as was suggested by CPI national secretary D Raja and other speakers present at the event. “I will take Bihar forward and that will help in nation’s development. However, working for the state does not mean we will remain quiet about the issues plaguing the country,” he said.Accepting the award on behalf of the people of Bihar, Nitish thanked Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani and award committee chairman Lakshman Tamil for the honour. “I keep running away from awards and only believe in doing my work,” he said and donated the cheque for Rs1 lakh he received with the award to the CM Relief Fund.Speaking on the occasion, Veeramani said, “This is my third visit to Bihar. On previous occasions, I tried to find the ‘jungle-raj’ in Bihar, but all I found was ‘raj’ (governance).”JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi, Bihar legislative assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary and legislative council Chairman Awadhesh Narain Singh also addressed the gathering on the occasion.