Bihar Assembly passes bills to hike caste quotas to 65 per cent, surpassing SC's 50 per cent cap

livemint.com:

Bihar legislative assembly on Tuesday, and had sought a hike in caste quotas. On Thursday, the Bihar assembly approved hike in quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Extremely Backward Classes from 50 to 65 per cent. Notably, the Bihar Assembly unanimously passed a bill to increase reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Extremely Backward Classes in state jobs and educational institutions to 65 per cent.

This is well past the Supreme Court's 50 per cent cap. The bill now remains to be signed off by Governor Rajendra Arlekar before it is law. On Tuesday, CM Nitish Kumar had said, “The quota for SCs and STs together stands at 17%.

It should be raised to 22%. Likewise, the reservation for OBCs should also be hiked from the current 50% to 65%." 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. According to 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.