RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to governor Biswabhusan Harichandan, requesting him to give an appointment to meet the delegation of state’s OBC Mahasabha and state backward classes welfare association.
CM Baghel referred to the request raised by the associations that have sought to meet the governor via CM.
Chief minister Baghel has mentioned in the letter that during the OBC Mahasammelan organized in Raipur on August 27, he was asked by the Chhattisgarh OBC Mahasabha and backward classes welfare association that they want to meet the Governor regarding their pending demands.
Hence, he is requesting the Governor to allot time for the delegation to meet and consider their demands sympathetically.
The members of the association met the CM on Sunday and placed their demand in context of benefits to the OBC category in public welfare schemes of the government remaining pending. The associations have urged to implement a 27 per cent OBC reservation at the earliest.
In 2012, the previous Raman Singh government revised the reservation formula, allocating 32 percent for Scheduled Tribes (STs), 12 percent for Scheduled Castes (SCs), and 14 percent for other backward classes, bringing the overall reservation to 58 percent. However, the state high court in 2022 set aside the order, asserting that any reservation exceeding 50 percent is unconstitutional. Subsequently, the matter was appealed to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Bhupesh Baghel government passed two bills in December 2022 in the state assembly aiming to increase the reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to 27 percent and Scheduled Tribes (STs) to 32 percent, Scheduled Castes (SCs) to 13 percent, and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to four percent. This move would have elevated the total reservation in the state to 76 percent.
The bills were submitted to the then governor of Chhattisgarh, Anusuiya Uikey, for her approval. However, she has not yet granted her assent, and the bills have been pending since then.
In May 2023, the Supreme Court issued an interim order staying the high court's decision. This development allowed the state to reinstate the reservation for government jobs and educational institutions to an overall 58 percent—32 percent for STs, 12 percent for SCs, and 14 percent for OBCs.
