image source, CGABAR KH
Chhattisgarh politics has heated up in all directions over the reservation issue amidst the cold winds from the north.
Demonstrations are taking place daily in tribal areas demanding reservation. In some places picketing is going on, in some places dharna is going on. Elsewhere, an effigy of Chief Minister Bhupesh Bagel is burnt.
For a few days, picketing was held on the national highway at various places across the state. Attempts were also made to stop train traffic at some places.
A strange situation has developed in Chhattisgarh regarding reservation. It is the only state where the reservation rules and list in public works and educational institutions have not been implemented for the past two months.
Responding to a query under the Right to Information Act, the state’s public administration department has said that the reservation-related rules and lists are not operational in the state after the High Court declared the reservation system unconstitutional.
How did this situation occur?
The state government implemented the highest 82 percent reservation system in the country 3 years ago. But the Chhattisgarh High Court banned it.
After this, on September 19 this year, the Chhattisgarh High Court struck down the old reservation system as ‘unconstitutional’.
Due to non-implementation of reservation, counseling and admission work in many courses including engineering, polytechnic, teacher training, horticulture, agriculture etc. has been stalled.
The state has about 23 thousand seats for technical courses like engineering, polytechnic, MCA, 14 thousand seats for B.Ed., about 7 thousand seats for D.L.Ed., and about 2500 seats for agriculture and horticulture.
State Public Service Commission recruitment and exam results have been stopped. The notification for many posts including 12 thousand teaching jobs has been stopped.
The Sub-Inspector examination scheduled to be held on November 6 for about a thousand vacant posts has been postponed.
2.5 lakh candidates for peon post has been postponed. Many entrance exams have been postponed.
The matter of admission to medical courses due to reservation has reached the court.
image source, CGABAR KH
The path forward
“A case related to reservation in Chhattisgarh is pending in the Supreme Court. I hope the case will be heard in the next week or ten days,” Chhattisgarh’s Advocate General Satish Chandra Verma told the BBC.
To deal with this crisis, the state government has convened a special session of the Legislative Assembly in the first week of December to discuss the issue of reservation.
But the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party says that the state government should bring an ordinance to implement reservation.
However, Chief Minister Bhupesh Bagel blames the Bharatiya Janata Party for this situation.
“This is a situation caused by their actions. We are trying to fix it,” says Chief Minister Bhupesh Bagel.
82% reservation result
During the Bharatiya Janata Party regime, the Raman Singh government issued a notification on 18 January 2012 amending Section 4 of the Reservation Act, 1994.
Under it the reservation applicable since the formation of Chhattisgarh was increased from 50 percent to 58 percent. Raman Singh’s government increased the 20 percent reservation for tribals to 32 percent. At the same time it reduced the 16 percent reservation for scheduled castes to 12 percent.
image source, CGABAR KH
The 14 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes was kept unchanged.
Some Congress leaders and others filed a petition in the High Court against this system of reservation.
After this in 2018, the Bhupesh Bagel government announced the implementation of the new reservation system on 15 August 2019.
In this new system, the reservation for Scheduled Castes has been increased from 12 percent to 13 percent and that of Other Backward Classes from 14 percent to 27 percent.
After adding 10 per cent reservation for Economically Backward General Sections, the level of reservation in Chhattisgarh reached 82 per cent.
A case was filed in the High Court against this decision of the Bhupesh Baghel government. The High Court banned this system of reservation.
Later, in 2012, the system of reservation brought by the Raman Singh government was implemented in the state.
But on September 19 this year, the Chhattisgarh High Court struck down the 2012 reservation system, saying that the reservation system brought by the Raman Singh government was implemented without a solid basis and provided more than 50 percent reservation.
“No justifiable reason has been given for reducing the percentage of reservation for scheduled castes and increasing the percentage of reservation for tribes,” said Kanak Tiwari, a constitutional expert and former advocate general of the Chhattisgarh High Court.
image source, CGABAR KH
“A list system is created when the percentage of reservation is actually fixed. It is divided between different classes, who gets first, who gets second, and who gets third. The new percentage cannot be implemented now that the High Court has struck it down,” Kanak Tiwari told the BBC.
Politics in reservation
The reservation system in Chhattisgarh since 2012 has been scrapped with only a year left for the state assembly elections.
In this situation, the government and the opposition parties are blaming each other.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that the Congress party has been opposing the reservation rules implemented by their government since the beginning.
Congress did not support the 32% reservation for tribals. That is why the Congress party filed a case in the High Court.
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Narayan Chandel told the BBC, “Bhupesh Bagel’s government did not present arguments and facts in favor of reservation in the Supreme Court. That is why reservation, which was implemented since 2012, was cancelled.”
“Now that reservation has been cancelled, why didn’t the government bring an ordinance for 32 percent reservation for tribals? The verdict came in September. What have you been doing all these days?” he asked.
Former Chhattisgarh minister and tribal chief of BJP Kedar Kashyap accused in a press conference that Bhupesh Bagel’s government made KP Khande, a leader who opposed the tribal reservation implemented by the Raman Singh government, as the head of the Scheduled Castes Commission.
On the other hand, the Bhupesh Bagel government also appointed Kunal Shukla, who had filed a petition in the High Court against the reservation system implemented by the Bhupesh Baghel government, as the head of the inquiry bench.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Bagel has indicated that a special session of the state legislature has been called to discuss the reservation issue.
He alleged that while in power, the reservation was revoked because the Bharatiya Janata Party did not submit necessary documents to the court in support of its reservation policy.
But there has been opposition to him within the party on the issue of reservation.
Former Union Minister and tribal leader of Bastar Arvind Netham has raised the war flag against his party government in this matter.
image source, CGABAR KH
Arvind Netham, one of the senior leaders of the Congress party, is also the protector of all tribal communities in Chhattisgarh. He accuses the government of cheating the tribals.
“In the last two months, this government has dealt two major blows to tribal interests. First, the tribals were marginalized in the provisions of the Panchayat extension schedule area Act.
Reservation was abolished in the second state. Even after this, the government says it stands with the tribals. It’s a cruel joke,” Arvind Netham said.
Everyone is anticipating what will happen in the Supreme Court and the Legislative Assembly regarding the reservation issue in Chhattisgarh.
But the biggest question is what will be the maximum amount of reservation in Chhattisgarh.
Will Bhupesh Bagel’s government support the reservation policy implemented by BJP’s Raman Singh government in 2012 or will it find some other way to implement the reservation policy it introduced in 2019? The coming days will answer this.
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