17 July:The Rajasthan Assembly passed by voice vote the bill on Wednesday providing 5 pc quota to Gujjars and three other castes under the "special backward class" and 14 pc to poor among the "economically backwards" (EBC).
Despite the opposition Congress party supported the bill, some of the party’s MLAs including C P Joshi, Jagannath Paharia, Harimohan Sharma termed it as a bill in haste and under the pressure of Gujjar community’s agitation which claimed about seventy lives in 2007-2008.
After the bill was passed unanimously, the House made a consensus resolution that the Central government should include the very bill in the 9th schedule of the constitution so that it could not be challenged anywhere in the court.
State Law Minister G S Twari said the bill provide reservation of seats in educational institutions in the state and appointments and posts in the services under the state in favour of the Scheduled Casts (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Backward Classes, and Economically Backward Classes and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
"The total reservation percentage would not go beyond 68 per cent," he said.The provisions of this bill shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions contained in any other act, Tiwari said.
Without disturbing the quota percentage of SC: 16 percent, ST: 12 percent and OBC: 21 percent, the bill extends quota benefit of 5 percent to four castes of Gujjars, Banjara, Gadia Lohars, and Raika, and 14 per cent to EBCs including Brahmins, Rajput, Vaishya, Mathur etc.Courtsey DD NEWS