Rajya Sabha passes 10% quota Bill, states to decide on beneficiary criteria

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the legislation gives powers to states to decide on the economic criteria for defining the beneficiaries

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Constitution amendment Bill to provide 10 per cent reservation in jobs and education, including privately run institutes of higher education, to economically backward sections in the general category. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on Tuesday.

It will become a law as soon as President Ram Nath Kovind signs it, and does not need ratification by state legislatures, ministers said.

During the debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, nearly all opposition parties said the Narendra Modi government had pushed through a Bill full of lacunae with an eye on the