No proposal to enhance quota percentage: Gehlot

There is no proposal currently to increase the percentage of reservation, Union Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot said '.

Though there was a demand for increasing the percentage of quota, the Supreme Court has ordered that it cannot be raised beyond 50 per cent, Gehlot said in the Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

He also asserted that the "BJP is supportive of the reservation and it will always be in future."

"Everybody feels that there should be an increase in the (quota) percentage ... but there is no possibility. Some say that Parliament can increase it, but in the current scenario, the ministry does not have any such proposal," he said. The prevailing reservation limit is 49.5 per cent.

Later, the House passed the bill that seeks inclusion of Sualgiri and Swalgiri castes in the Scheduled Castes list of Odisha. These communities were found synonymous with Sabakhia caste, which is already included in the list of Scheduled Castes of Odisha.

Gehlot said the government was taking all steps to promote social, economical and political status of dalit communities and in the last three years, it has increased the allocations.

To prevent atrocities against them, the government has strengthened the laws and was also trying to provide good education to these communities. "We are providing all benefits to them...We have taken steps for their all round development," he added.

The Minister claimed that the previous governments "used to make provisions only on paper" but this government has spent more than what it has allocated.

Participating in the debate on the bill, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge expressed dismay that there has been no marked improvement in the social status of dalits.

He also asked the government not to yield to political pressure while including or excluding any caste from list of scheduled castes and tribes.