Bihar assembly passes bill to hike quotas for SCs, STs & backward classes to 65 per cent, surpasses SC's 50 per cent cap

The Bihar Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a bill to raise the quota for SCs, STs, Other Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in state jobs and educational institutions to 65 per cent. The number has now surpassed the Supreme Court's 50 per cent cap.BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said that the BJP fully supports the bill to increase reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Extremely Backward Classes in state jobs and educational institutions. The BJP has always been of the view that the country cannot develop without uplifting those who are economically, politically and socially backward," he said. The Caste Survey report revealed that OBCs (27.13 per cent) and the extremely backward classes sub-group (36 per cent) account for a whopping 63 per cent of the state's total of 13.07 crore, while SCs and STs together were slightly over 21 per cent.According to the report tabled in the assembly by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the state is home to about 2.97 crore families out of which more than 94 lakh (34.13 per cent) live on an income of Rs 6,000 or less a month.With inputs from agencies.