RAIPUR
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that the national census be conducted and a separate code for other backward classes be included.
He said that “despite the efforts of the State government”, people belonging to other backward classes or OBCs were not being provided the benefits of 27% reservation in Chhattisgarh. He said denying constitutional rights to a major part of the population will inevitably cause angst.
Governor’s assent
In his letter, the CM said Bill[s] to implement 32, 13, 27 and 4% reservation for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes and EWS respectively [in government jobs and educational institutions] passed by the Chhattisgarh Assembly last year were awaiting the Governor’s approval.
“In April 2023, I had sought 27% reservation for other backward classes of Chhattisgarh State and inclusion of this subject in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution [that puts it beyond judicial review]. I am sure you will agree that it is necessary to provide reservation to the large population of OBCs, who have been deprived of socio-political rights for centuries,” Mr. Baghel wrote.
Big issue in Chhattisgarh
Ahead of the elections, reservations are a hot topic in Chhattisgarh, especially since last year when the HC set aside two old laws providing 58% reservations. In coming up with those Bills, the previous Raman Singh government had kept the 14% reservation for OBCs intact as in undivided MP while adjusting the quota for SCs and ST, in accordance with the share of population in the new State.
While there is no definitive data available for the OBC population in Chhattisgarh, like the rest of India, OBCs are predominant in areas beyond the tribal zones of Sarguja and Bastar.
The Baghel-led Congress government, since assuming power in December 2018, first passed an ordinance increasing OBC reservation from 14% to 27% in September 2019 which was immediately challenged in Chhattisgarh High Court and the HC stayed the increase in OBC reservation. Later, the Ordinance lapsed because the government did not introduce its replacement Bill in the Legislative Assembly. During arguments in the HC, the government faced flak for basing its reservation policy on the Majahan Committee report of 1983.
The government then appointed a one-member Commission comprising retired district judge Chhabilal Patel to collect data on representation of backward classes.
Before the Commission could submit its report the HC struck down the statutory provisions for reservations in services and education in September 2022. Last November, the Quantifiable Data Commission submitted its report on the basis of which the State formulated and passed the replacement Amendment Bills on the reservation. One of the reasons, these Bills did not receive assent from the governor, according to sources, is because the State government refused to provide the copy of the quantifiable data commission to Raj Bhawan.
Reacting to Mr. Baghel’s letter, the BJP accused the Baghel government of politicising reservation.
“By not presenting quantifiable data, despite it being necessary, with the reservation draft, the State government is unnecessarily dragging the governor into its dirty politics by creating a constitutional problem,” said BJP spokesperson Kedar Gupta.
Shift NDMC headquarter
In his letter, Mr. Baghel also asked the Prime Minister to shift the headquarters of NMDC from Hyderabad in Telangana to Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh. He wrote that the move was important to provide employment opportunities to local unemployed people.
