Jharkhand Assembly passes bill to raise reservations to 77% from current 60%

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Reservation in Vacancies of Posts and Services (Amendment) Bill 2022 passed in the state assembly on Friday raised the quota for reservations in government jobs for STs, SCs, EBCs, Other Backward Communities and economically weaker sections to 77 per cent from a current 60 per cent.

However, the bill which was passed by a special session of the assembly, came with the caveat that "the Act shall take effect after it is included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution of India". While the new law was greeted by celebratory crowds, critics lashed out at it as a "political gimmick" by the beleaguered Hemant Soren government facing multiple charges and threats.

In the proposed reservation, local people belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community will get a quota of 12 per cent, Scheduled Tribes 28 per cent, extremely backward classes (EBCs) 15 per cent, Other Backward Communities (OBCs) 12 per cent and EWS, barring those from the other reserved categories, 10 per cent.

At present the STs enjoy 26 per cent reservation in Jharkhand, while SCs have a 10 per cent quota and OBCs 14 per cent. The reservation for EWS by Jharkhand comes on the heels of a Supreme Court verdict given earlier this week upholding the validity of the reservation to the economically weaker sections (EWS).

Increasing reservation was an electoral promise of all mainstream parties in 2019, including the ruling UPA allies JMM, Congress and RJD.

The passage of the legislation was greeted with celebrations by people in the state capital Ranchi and in districts. They burst crackers, applied `gulal' (colours) on each other, distributed sweets and danced to the rhythm of `dhol' and `nagara' (different types of drums).

The bill was passed amid protests by BJP MLAs who demanded a debate on it and accused the JMM-led government of "unnecessary haste" in order to gain political mileage by raking up a sensitive issue.

Proposals for sending the bill for vetting to the Assembly select committee was rejected.

The legislation was passed in the midst of the prevailing political crisis in Jharkhand over Enforcement Directorate's summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren and uncertainty over his continuance as an MLA.