Haryana Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed ‘The Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill 2016’ to provide reservation to Jat and other communities.
The opposition Congress legislators kept away from the session when the Bill was passed. There was immediate opposition to the Bill from leaders of other communities and even some Jat leaders as well as a BJP parliamentarian, Raj Kumar Saini. The State Assembly passed The Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill 2016 and The Haryana Backward Classes Commission Bill 2016, within 15 minutes of their introduction by Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar in Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
While the ruling BJP and Indian National lok Dal (INlD) legislators were present in the assembly when the bill was passed, the Congress legislators kept away from the session protesting against the six months' suspension handed down to three Congress legislators by the Speaker on March 15.
The first bill provides for reservation in jobs and education to the Jats and five other castes Sikh Jats, Tyagis, Rors, Bishnois and Muslim Jats in the Backward Class ‘C’ category while the second provides for institution of a permanent Backward Classes Commission.
The Chief Minister had promised reservation for the Jat community and others that included Jat Sikhs, Rors, Bishnois and Tyagis, by bringing a bill during the ongoing budget assembly session, following a violent Jat agitation that had left Haryana paralysed for over ten days in February. As many as 30 people were killed and 320 injured and property worth hundreds of crores of rupees was destroyed during the Jat quota stir.
The tate cabinet had on Monday cleared the bill that proposed to provide reservation to the politically-dominant Jat community and four other communities Jat Sikhs, Tyagis, Bishnois and Rors.
The bill will give statutory status to Backward classes Block 'A', Backward classes Block 'B' and Backward classes Block 'C' by enacting the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act 2016, and request the Central Government to include this Act in the 9th Schedule read with Article 31B of the Constitution of India.
The bill provides for increase in percentage of reservation in Schedule I, II and III for Class I and II posts for BC 'A', BC 'B' and BC 'C' from 10 percent, five percent and five percent to 11 percent, six percent and six percent respectively. The State Government has also increased the existing reservation of five percent for Economically Backward Persons in General Caste Category in Class I and II posts from five percent to seven percent.