CM Vasundhara Raje signs quota bill

Chief minister Vasundhara Raje on Thursday evening reportedly signed reservation bill that mandates one percent quota to Gurjars and other four castes. The bill, sources says, may be tabled in the assembly on Monday.

According to sources, one per cent reservation for Gujars and four other castes by creating a new category - most backward classes (MBC) has been provisioned in the said bill. This will take the total reservation in the state to 50%, which is the limit for quotas permitted by the Supreme Court.

The government in December last announced the creation of MBCs through a notification and included Gurjars, Banjara, Gadia-Lohar, Rebari and Gadaria in it. 

The sources informed that as per the notification these communities were identified as the most backward by the OBC Commission and on the basis of the Commission’s report, they were given 1 per cent additional reservation under the MBC category. 

The Raje government had came up with notification to allure Gurjars and rest castes which up to certain extent are dominant in Ajmer, Alwar and Mandalgarh seats which went to polls recently. The efforts by the ruling BJP, though, were failed miserably when the party lost all seats to Congress. Now, as nearly nine months are left to assembly election, the government has came up with a formal bill.

Along with this 1 per cent, these castes will continue to get quota benefits under the other backward classes (OBC) category, said the sources.