A day after the Supreme Court upheld 10 per cent quota for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among the upper castes, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday demanded the removal of 50 per cent cap on reservations.
Noting that the present reservation limit is 50 per cent— 27 per cent to OBCs, 15 per cent for Scheduled Castes, and 7.5 per cent for Scheduled Tribes—the JD(U) chief said the 10 per cent quota upper castes based on the economic condition is being adjusted in the OBC category, and the OBCs are being deprived of the reservation.
"What the Supreme Court ruled was fair enough. We were always in support of the quota. But it is high time that the limit of 50 per cent be raised. The cap is depriving OBCs and EBCs of opportunities in proportion to their population," he said, talking to reporters in Patna.
Notably, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav with whom Nitish aligned, dumping the BJP, three months ago, had also raised similar demand for the removal of reservation cap.
Nitish, a prominent OBC leader himself, also reiterated the need for a fresh estimate of the respective population of various social groups and recalled having taken it up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
"We were told that states could hold such headcounts. We have undertaken that exercise. But this needs to be done on the national level as well. There must be a rethink on the issue of caste census," said.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld by a 3-2 majority the 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in educational institutions and government jobs, saying it was not discriminatory and did not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
While Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat dissented from the majority opinion that upheld the 103rd Constitution amendment of 2019, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari said use of basic structure doctrine as a "sword" to "stultify" the effort to do economic justice cannot be countenanced.