Patna:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday raised before Union Home Minister Amit Shah his long-standing demand for granting special category status to the state.
At the 26th meeting of the Eastern Zone Council here, chaired by Mr Shah, Mr Kumar also hoped that the Center will consider the request to include the State's recent legislation in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, which would reduce the quota for disadvantaged castes were increased from 50. percent to 65 percent.
The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution contains a list of central and state laws that cannot be challenged in court. In 1992, the Supreme Court limited reservations for the backward classes to 50 percent.
“The Chief Minister during the meeting urged the Center to grant special status to Bihar. Bihar has been raising the issue of special status with the state since 2010. The new demand was necessitated by the findings of the caste survey conducted by the grand alliance government. in the state,” said a statement from the CMO.
“The state government is planning to take various welfare measures for underprivileged families. Implementation of all these measures will entail an expenditure of Rs 2.50 lakh crore… Hence, we demand special status for Bihar,” he said.
The Chief Minister demanded that the Center place two amendment bills increasing the quota for backward castes from 50 to 65 per cent in state government jobs and educational institutions in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution to make them immune from judicial scrutiny.
“Since Bihar BJP also supported both the bills in the assembly and council, the Center should include them in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution without delay. The CM said it very clearly in the meeting,” the statement said.
The meeting was also attended by senior ministers from Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.
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