Bihar govt issues gazette notifications for raising quota from 50 to 65 per cent

On Tuesday, the Nitish Kumar government issued gazette notifications, following the assent from Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, to increase the quota for deprived castes from 50 to 65 percent in state government jobs and educational institutions.

According to sources the Governor had sent both the bills The Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services Amendment Bill and the Bihar Reservation (Admission In Educational Institutions) Amendment Bill, 2023  to the state government after giving his formal assent, paving the way for implementation of the new quota percentage in state government jobs and educational institutions.

Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services Amendment Bill and the Bihar Reservation (Admission In Educational Institutions) Amendment Bill, 2023 were recently cleared by the state legislature during the winter session days after the government tabled the detailed analysis of the state’s landmark caste survey report in the assembly.

Both the bills sought a hike in the quota for Scheduled Castes (SC) from 16 to 20 per cent, Scheduled Tribes (STs) from 1 to 2 per cent, extremely backward castes (EBCs) from 18 to 25 per cent and other backward classes (OBCs) from 15 to 18 per cent to elevate the total quantum of caste-based reservations from 50 to 65 per cent.