Cabinet clears draft to hike OBC quota from 21% to 26%

Jaipur: The state cabinet, through a circular, on Tuesday cleared the draft of the Bill to raise the 21% Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota in the state to 26%.

The OBC reservation quota in the state is being raised by 5% to accommodate the reservations for special backward classes (SBC) which includes Gujjars. The bill in this regard is expected to be tabled and cleared during the ongoing session at the Rajasthan Assembly. A debate over the bill is expected on the last day of the session.

In August this year, the state government decided to raise the OBC quota to accommodate the five per cent quota assured to Gujjars, Banjara, Gadia-Lohar, Raika and Gadaria. The decision was taken following a meeting of the representatives of the Gujjar community with a cabinet sub-committee. The government had assured the Gujjars that the OBC quota will be split after increasing it to 26% to grant them 5% reservation and that a bill in this regard would be introduced in the assembly in a special session.

The government is expected to introduce the bill in the house soon. However, the move will once again led to total reservation in the state, which presently stands at 49%, to cross the 50% legal ceiling and reach 54%. The state government had previously failed to provide the Gujjars and other four communities the 5% SBC reservation because of the legal ceiling.