OBC bill passed in LS with rare House unity
NEW DELHI: For the first time in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, a piece of legislation was tabled and passed unanimously without disruptions on Tuesday as the Lok Sabha approved the 127th Constitution Amendment bill to restore the right of states to identify and provide reservation benefits to other backward castes (OBC).
The entire House supported the bill and debated for more than six hours even as furious protests continued in the Rajya Sabha over the controversial farm laws. While 385 members voted for the bill, no one opposed it.
Many parties, including those in the Opposition as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allies, demanded that the current 50% cap on reservations be lifted.
Many leaders such as Janata Dal (United) MP Lalan Singh, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Ritesh Pandey and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s T R Baalu also demanded that a caste census be conducted throughout the country.
Social justice and empowerment minister Virendra Kumar, who replaced Thawarchand Gehlot a month ago, described the bill as a “historic legislation” that would benefit 671 castes in the country.
He said the bill will restore the states’ rights to prepare their own lists of OBCS so that various communities can be given social and economic justice. “I am grateful to all the members of the Lok Sabha for strengthening the federal structure of India,” he tweeted.
On May 5, while scrapping a separate quota for the Maratha community in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court had ruled that after a 2018 amendment in the Constitution, only the central government could notify socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCS) – not the states.
This interpretation effectively struck a blow to the authority of state governments in identifying backward classes and provide them with reservation benefits.
The new bill effectively bypasses the Supreme Court’s decision.
The Centre’s position has all along been that the President’s powers in identifying and categorising SEBCS is restricted to the central list.
BJP’S first speaker on the bill, Sanghmitra Maurya, pitched for caste census and lauded the government for deciding in its support. Her speech left many BJP members confused as the ruling party has so far not accepted growing Opposition demand for a caste census.
“We support this bill but our demand is to remove 50% ceiling (in reservation). You should listen to states, make it legal for states to cross the 50 per cent ceiling,” Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.