india

Updated: Jul 24, 2019 11:20 IST

The Madhya Pradesh assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed an amendment bill to increase reservation enjoyed by other backward classes (OBCs) in government jobs to 27% from existing 14%.

The assembly passed the MP Public Service (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Amendment Bill 2019 that will now go to the governor and president of India for their assent.

With passage of the bill, total quota in state government jobs rose to 73%, including 10% reservation for economic weaker section (EWS) from upper castes.

During discussion, general administration minister Govind Singh said his government was following footsteps of states such as Tamil Nadu which have successfully breached the 50% limit for caste-based reservations set up by the Supreme Court.

“When we saw there were states such as Tamil Nadu which had introduced reservation (for SC/ST/OBC) ranging from 67% to 73% without violating the Supreme Court guideline, then we thought it could be done in Madhya Pradesh also,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition Gopal Bhargava demanded separate reservations for “affluent” and “non-affluent” amongst the OBCs.

Bhargava said the amendment to be an eyewash as there were very few jobs in the government sector and wanted to know if the quota will be enforced in the private sector as well.

The minister responded by saying that the government would first fill up 2 to 2.5 lakh vacant positions as such appointments for sanctioned posts will hardly entail any additional financial burden.

The Bombay high court last month ruled that 50% cap on reservation imposed by the Supreme Court in a landmark verdict in 1992 can be “extended only in exceptional situations if it is based on quantifiable data”.