The bills enhancing overall reservations in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions to 76 per cent passed by Chhattisgarh Assembly are not likely to get a nod from governor’s office anytime soon with Governor Anusuiya Uikey seeking clarification on 11 points related to the provisions in the bills.
The stand taken by the governor seems to be making for a first major head-off with the Congress government in the state.
“I have written to the state government seeking clarification on various points to ensure that there are no legal hurdles after I sign the bills to turn them into legislation (Acts). Also I want to ensure that there is justice with all the sections of people as delegations of all communities are meeting me on the issue,” Governor Uikey said while talking to THE WEEK exclusively from Raipur.
She said that the High Court had struck down the law providing for 58 per cent reservation on the basis that it flouted the 50 per cent bar on overall quota, but now that the state government has proposed to increase it to 76 per cent, she wants to have complete clarity on the basis used for such provisions, so that future legal impediments could be avoided.
Controversy has erupted in Chhattisgarh on what is being looked upon as a delay on the part of the governor to sign the quota bills. The ruling Congress has accused the opposition BJP of making attempts to stop approval of the bills and has demanded quick action on the part of the governor to resolve the lingering issue of caste-based quota in the state.
At the end of a special session on December 2, the Assembly had passed two bills—Chhattisgarh Public Service (ST/SC/OBC Reservation) Amendment Bill 2022 and the Chhattisgarh Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Amendment Bill 2022.
These bills provide for 32 per cent quota for scheduled tribes (STs) and 27 per cent quota for other backward classes (OBCs), apart from 13 per cent reservation for Scheduled Caste (ST) communities and 4 per cent for economically weaker sections (EWS).
A delegation of senior cabinet ministers had taken the bills to the Raj Bhavan and submitted them personally to the governor, requesting her to sign them.
However, 10 days after the passage of the bill, the governor is yet to sign and has a string of queries that she wants clarification on. “I sought legal opinion and found that there might be a number of impediments if these bills turn into Acts (laws). I held oral discussions with the state government officials, but they could not give a satisfactory response. So my office has sent across a list of 11 queries to the government, seeking clarification. As soon as I get them, I will make a suitable decision after studying them,” the governor said.
She rejected any political motivations, saying that she held a constitutional post and was supposed to protect the welfare of all sections of society. “Let others do the politics they want to, I have my duty to do,” Uikey said.
On the point that she had herself asked the government through a letter to hold a special session to bring in quota bills and expressed willingness to sign immediately, Uikey said that she was concerned about the reduction of quota for scheduled tribes from 32 per cent to 20 per cent (after HC striking down the earlier Act from 2012) and it was on this matter that she had written to the government.
“I had not issued any order, but suggested holding of a special session to resolve the issue of tribal quota, as there was a lot of resentment brewing in the community. But the government failed to inform me in advance about its plan to enhance the overall quota to 76 per cent. Even when the proposal for the special session was sent to me and I approved, the details of the bills or business to be transacted in the session were not conveyed to me. Later on my query, I got a response from the government just a day ahead of the session about the nature of business to be transacted. Yet, there were no details about the enhancement of quota,” the governor said.
“Now, unless I am convinced that the government is fully prepared and has the required data to defend the provisions (in the bills) in the courts (the government has itself approached the Supreme Court in the matter), how can I sign them? I am awaiting government's response to the queries from my office,” Uikey said.
Her office told THE WEEK that on Monday itself separate delegations of Agrawal, Brahmin and Rajput communities (general category), OBCs and Scheduled Caste community had met the governor, putting across their respective views on the matter. The general category people are bothered about 4 per cent EWS quota against 10 per cent provided by the central government, the OBCs about 27 per cent quota despite them having far larger share in population and the SCs about reduction of quota from 16 to 13 per cent.
Chairman of Chhattisgarh Congress communications department, Sushil Anand Shukla said that the Congress’s stand is that the governor should take early steps to resolve the issue. “If she has queries about the bills, she should send them back to the government with queries and as per rules, the cabinet might amend the bills or send them back to the governor office without amendment. But, this is not happening,” he said.
He added that the bills were sent to the government with the hope that they would be signed soon so that the issue of quota could be settled. “The government has used all possible data and legal basis to formulate the bills. (Population) Data of quantifiable data commissions was used to finalise the OBC and EWS quota, while census data was used for the SCs and STs. So there should not be any problem,” Shukla said.
He added that the BJP leaders are mixing up with community delegations and making attempts to stall the signing of the bills, in apprehension that the Congress will get political credit for this. “In such a situation, fingers are also getting raised at the Raj Bhavan,” he said.