Jharkhand governor returns quota increase bill for review
An official in the governor’s office said the bill was returned on the basis of the legal opinion from the attorney general of India
Jharkhand governor CP Radhakrishnan has returned the bill seeking to increase reservation in the state for the socially and educationally backward sections, people aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
The bill seeks to increase the Other Backward Class quota from 14% to 27% and that of Schedule Tribes to 28% from 26% and Scheduled Castes to 12% from 10%. With the inclusion of the 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections, the total reservation in state government jobs would go up to 77%.
An official in the governor’s office said the bill was returned on the basis of the legal opinion from the attorney general of India.
“The previous governor [Ramesh Bais] sent the bill to the attorney general, who said the bill does not take into account Supreme Court judgements on the reservation. Considering that opinion, the bill was sent back to the government last month for a review,” the official said. The bill was passed in November.
