Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on November 17 approved the State Government’s ‘Bihar Reservation Amendment Bill’ which was passed unanimously by the State Legislature during the recently concluded winter session. It was approved by the State Cabinet on November 7 and raises the reservation quota for Backward, Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from 50% to 65%. A gazette will be published soon.
On November 16, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said that the reservation bill will be approved as soon as the Governor returns. The Governor returned on November 17 and approved the bill . With 10% already reserved for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) the quota limit in Bihar has now been pushed to 75%., well past the 50% ceiling set by the Supreme Court.
Earlier in the Assembly after the bill was passed unanimously, Mr. Kumar assured the House members that his government would implement provisions of the Bill “as soon as possible”.
