Centre plans 10% quota for the poor-Union Cabinet approves Constitution Amendment Bill for reservation in general category

• The Union Cabinet approved a Constitution Amendment Bill to provide 10% reservation to the economically backward sections in the general category, a senior government official said.
• The Bill will also cover those from the Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist and other minority communities.
• The quota will be over and above the existing 50% reservation to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

         Criteria

• Those who have an annual salary of less than Rs.8 lakh per year and possess less than 5 acres of land will be able to avail themselves of reservation in educational institutions and jobs.
• The government is likely to introduce the Bill in the Lok Sabha on the last working day of the winter session.
• Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution will have to be amended for the implementation of the decision.
• A nine-judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court had, in the Indira Sawhney case, capped reservation at 50%.
• The court had ruled on November 16, 1992, that “clause (4) of Article 16 of the Constitution speaks of adequate representation and not proportionate representation” and “relaxation can be done in extraordinary situations and while doing so, extreme caution has to be exercised and a special case made out.”

The Hindu