U'khand assembly passes quota bill for unreserved categories in jobs

Uttarkhand Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a bill giving 10 per cent reservation in jobs to the economically weak in unreserved categories.

State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant, who had introduced the legislation in the House on Thursday, said the bill was being brought to provide equal opportunities for all sections in public services.

The economically weak in unreserved categories do not have proportionate representation in public services and posts in comparison to other sections, he said.

The bill applies only to permanent residents of the state who are not covered under the existing reservation schemes for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Socially and Educationally Backward classes.

This reservation will be given to people from families whose gross annual income from all sources including salary, agriculture, profession, business is less than Rs 8 lakh.

The constitutional amendment to provide the 10 per cent quota was approved by Parliament and had received assent of President Ram Nath Kovind in January.