Bill Giving States Power to Make Own OBC Lists Introduced in Lok Sabha

Opposition parties pledged to support the Bill following a meeting with Mallikarjun Kharge.

Fifteen Opposition parties met at the office of the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, where the decision was taken.

(Photo: IANS)

Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Dr Virendra Kumar introduced the Constitution Amendment to the OBC Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday, 9 August.

The Constitution (One hundredth and twenty seventh amendment) Bill 2021 seeks to restore the power of state administrations to identify Backward Classes in their states and Union Territories– a provision which was taken away after the Supreme Court's judgment in the Maratha quota case.

The Maratha Judgement

In a 3:2 majority verdict of the apex court, the Constitution Bench had ruled that the states could not identify and specify Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBCs) following the 102nd Constitutional Amendment, and the authority to do the same was with the President of India.

The bill introduced aims to amend Article 342A, and hold that the President is mandated to specify the Central List of SEBCs for the union government.

The Attorney General for India had also contended in the Maratha quota case that the power of President is only to identify SEBCs for the Central List, LiveLaw reported.

What the New Bill States

The amendment also seeks to add clause (3) to Article 342A, expounding that all States and Union Territories will be given the authority to establish their specific SEBCs list, which may differ from the list drawn up by the Centre.

The clause states, "Notwithstanding anything contained in clauses (1) and (2), every State or Union territory may, by law, prepare and maintain, for its own purposes, a list of socially and educationally backward classes, entries in which may be different from the Central List."

Support from the Opposition

Following this, fifteen Opposition parties met at the office of the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, where they decided to support the bill, reported news agency IANS.

After the meeting, Kharge said, "The Opposition parties have decided that it will support The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill 2021 being introduced in Parliament today (Monday)."

According to NDTV, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Sinha said that this was a big issue, and added that the Opposition would support the Centre on it. "And we will also push for caste-based census," he said.

The demands addressed by the Bill have been made by a number of regional parties and even the ruling party's own OBC leaders.

Once it becomes a law, all states and UTs will be able to draw up their own OBC lists.

(With inputs from IANS and NDTV)