The Rajasthan Assembly on Thursday passed a bill that increases reservation for Other Backward Classes in the state from 21% to 26%.
The BJP government gave 5% reservation to five OBC communities, which include Gujjars and four others that were earlier grouped as Special Backward Classes (SBC).
The bill proposing 5% hike in the OBC quota in government jobs was tabled during the monsoon session this year in the wake of widespread agitation by the Gujjar community, demanding reservation under the Backward Classes category.
Accordingly, there will be no SBC category as it does not have constitutional approval. Instead, there will be OBC and ‘Most OBC’ categories.
Last year, the division bench of the Rajasthan High Court struck down the 5% quota in the SBC reservation given to the Gujjars and other communities.
The Gujjar community has threatened to restart their agitation to get increased quota in government jobs and educational institutions.
Since 2006, members of the community have held agitations, blocking national highways and railway tracks, and were fired upon by the police.
