Bihar Assembly increases reservation quota to 75%

Patna: The Bihar Assembly on Thursday hiked the quota for deprived castes from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in government jobs and educational institutions, taking the overall reservation to 75 per cent.

Addressing the House on the occasion, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, “now reservations will be 75 per cent, including 10 per cent for economically weaker sections which the Centre introduced a few years ago and we, too, implemented in the state”.

Earlier during the day, the assembly unanimously hiked quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from the existing 50 per cent to 65 per cent. Bills providing for the same in educational institutions and government jobs, drafted in the backdrop of a comprehensive caste survey conducted by the Nitish Kumar government, were passed unanimously, through voice vote.

As per the Bills, the quota for STs will be doubled, from one to two per cent, while for SCs it will be raised from 16 per cent to 20 per cent.