 "Chhattisgarh govt decides on 58% reservation in educational institutions")
In the cabinet meeting held on Monday at the residence of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur, the state government decided to give 58 per cent reservation to students from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in all educational institutes in the state.
The Baghel Cabinet said that 58 per cent of the seats in all educational institutions will be reserved for ST, SC, and OBC students.
The Cabinet decided that "the admission process will be completed according to the already existing reservation system in the educational institutions of the state".
On May 1, the Supreme Court (SC) had directed that appointments and selection procedures should be continued as per the coming reservation system.
Following the interim order, the Cabinet decided that the admission process in educational institutions across the state will be done as per the already existing reservation system, as per the order of the court.
The controversy around the reservation issue
Since long, the state has witnessed intense debates related to reservation in the state.
In 2012, the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had made a number of changes in the reservation system, which included 12 per cent reservation to SC, 32 per cent to ST, and 14 per cent to OBC. Following this, the reservation increased to 58 per cent.
Following its implementation, a long legal battle, which lasted close to 10 years, was fought and the matter was taken to the High Court, which rejected the decision.
The issue then reached the SC, which accepted it on certain conditions.
Governor refuses to sign the Reservation Amendment Bill
In December last year, the Baghel government introduced another reservation bill. The Reservation Amendment Bill was approved in the Assembly on December 2, under which 32 per cent reservation was approved for ST, 27 per cent for OBC, 13 percent for SC, and 4 per cent for economically weaker sections (EWS).
This increased the percentage of reservation to 76 per cent. However, the bill has not yet been signed in the Raj Bhavan.
The then governor Anusuiya Uike questioned this issue. She had said, "When 58 per cent reservation is not approved by the court, then how will 76 per cent be approved. If this issue goes to court, which it will go to, then the government should tell what legal answer it has?"
The governor did not sign the Reservation Amendment Bill passed in the Assembly, on which the Raj Bhavan questioned the government.
The BJP accused the Congress of cheating the youth of the state. To this, the Congress said that the non-signing of the Amendment Bill is a result of a collusion of the BJP and the Raj Bhavan.