Rajasthan gives 1% quota to Most Backward Classes

•  Rajasthan government has issued orders for granting 1% reservation to the Most Backward Classes(MBC), comprising Gujjars and four other nomadic communities, within the 50% ceiling mandated by the Supreme Court.
• Along with Gujjars, nomadic communities Banjara, Gadia- Lohar, Raika and Gadariya were included among the Other Backward Classes for quota in the government jobs and educational institutions.

Background:

• The State Assembly had on October 26, 2017, passed a Bill creating the “most backward” category within the OBCs for Gujjars and four other nomadic communities and given 5% reservation to them, while increasing the OBC quota from 21% to 26% and taking the overall quota in the State to 54%.
• The government announced the creation of MBCs and included Gujjars, Banjara, Gadia-Lohar, Rebari and Gadaria in it.
• On the basic of the Commission's report, they have now been provided with 1 per cent additional reservation under the MBC category.
• Along with this 1 per cent, they will continue getting quota benefits under the other backward classes (OBC) category
• Gujjars and others were earlier grouped as a special backward class and the State government had tried thrice to grant 5% reservation to them.

Analysis:

• Now, the total quota in Rajasthan stands at 54 percent- 26 percent for OBCs, 16 percent for SCs, and 12 percent for STs. This is in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines, which say the total quota in government jobs and educational institutes for different reserved categories in the state cannot go beyond 50 percent. Last year, the Rajasthan High Court had struck down government's attempt to grant five percent quota to Gujjars as it would have shot the overall reservation to 54 percent.

By: Vishal