Haryana Assembly passes Bill to bifurcate SC quota, Cong slams govt's move

Amid vociferous protest by the Congress, the Haryana Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill to bifurcate 20 per cent seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes in admission to higher educational institutions in the state.

The Haryana Scheduled Castes (Reservation in Admission in Government Educational Institutions) Bill, 2020 was passed after an hour-long discussion, with senior Congress leader Geeta Bhukkal claiming it was "divisive"and "unconstitutional" and demanded that it be withdrawn.

The bill, moved by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment O P Yadav, was passed to provide for reservation in admission in government educational institutions to people belonging to the Scheduled Castes in Haryana with special measures for "deprived Scheduled Castes".

Slamming the government's move to bring the Bill, Bhukkal questioned the need for creating "this new category of deprived Scheduled Castes".

"You have sub-categorised SCs, why are you dividing us, why are you dividing state into Jats, non-Jats, SC, BC and making other sub-categories..This Bill is unconstitutional, divisive and against the law and should be withdrawn," she said.

However, the government defended the move and said there was nothing unconstitutional about it. The sub-classification of reservation would be applicable for graduation and post graduation-level courses in educational institutions maintained by the government or receiving government aid.

As per the Bill, 20 per cent seats shall be reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes while making admissions in government educational institutions. Fifty per cent of the 20 per cent seats reserved for SCs for admission in any government educational institutions shall be set aside for candidates belonging to "deprived Scheduled Castes".

"Haryana provides 20 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes in admission in educational institutions as well in services. Analysis of employee data reveals that the total representation of a section of the Scheduled Castes in the government services in Haryana, herein after, referred to as "deprived Scheduled Castes" is only 4.7 per cent, 4.14 per cent and 6.27 per cent in Group A, Group B and Group C services, respectively, even though their population is about 11 per cent of the total state population.