Chhattisgarh govt starts process to implement 58% quota for backward classes
The cabinet chaired by chief minister Bhupesh Baghel decided to implement 58% reservation in admissions as per the top court’s interim order dated 1 May 2023
Three months after the Supreme Court granted a temporary concession to the Chhattisgarh government to implement a law providing 58% reservation to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs, the Bhupesh Baghel administration on Monday decided to kickstart the process in admissions to all educational institutions of the state.
The cabinet chaired by chief minister Baghel decided to implement 58% reservation in admissions as per the top court’s interim order dated 1 May 2023, a government statement read.
“Interim relief has been provided to continue the appointment/selection procedures as per the pre-existing reservation system in the state. As per this interim order, the cabinet has decided to conduct the admission process in the educational institutions of the state under the pre-existing reservation system,” it said.
The Supreme Court had on May 1 stayed the Chhattisgarh high court’s order which in 2022 declared “unconstitutional” an amendment to the 2011 reservation law that aimed to increase the reservation to 58%.
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In September last year, the high court struck down the Chhattisgarh Lok Seva (Anusuchit Jatiyon, Jan Jatiyon aur Anya Pichhade Vargon ke Liye Arakshan) (Sanshodhan) Adhiniyam, 2011, which provided 58% reservation — 12% for SCs, 32% for STs and 14% for OBCs — in public services and posts, and to certain educational institutions established, maintained or aided by the state government.
The high court held that no exceptional circumstance had been made out for breaching the reservation ceiling limit of 50% as held by the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney case in 1994.
On May 1, a three-judge bench headed by justice BR Gavai heard an urgent request by the Chhattisgarh government, which submitted that owing to the high court’s stay, recruitments had come to a standstill and the state was facing an extreme shortage of manpower.
“We find that a situation cannot be permitted where the state does not have requisite manpower to run the administration,” the bench stated.
