Kanker: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday said his government was washing away the "sins" of the previous BJP dispensations as they failed to come up with proper rules for reservation, and announced that a bill, which provides for a total of 76 per cent quota for different categories, will be tabled in the special session of the state assembly commencing Thursday.
Baghel said 32 per cent quota has been provisioned for Scheduled Tribes (ST), 27 per cent for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 13 per cent for Scheduled Castes (SC) and four per cent for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in the bill. The total reservation in the state would go up to 76 per cent after the bill gets passed in the assembly.
Addressing a rally at Puri village in Bhanupratappur assembly constituency, where a bypoll is slated for December 5, Baghel accused the previous Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state of looting and ditching tribals and farmers. "We have worked for the welfare of every section...We enacted rules under Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) in the interest of tribals. Why didn't the Raman Singh government do this for 15 years? Today they are making hue and cry over reservation. We are washing their sins," he alleged.
"Had they had prepared it (reservation rules) properly, there would not have been any need to convene the special session of the assembly. They had just issued a circular (over reservation), but we are enacting an Act," he said. "We have not only provisioned 32 per cent reservation for tribals, but 27 per cent for OBCs too. For the SC community, we have provisioned 13 per cent and four per cent for EWS. It (the bill) will be introduced in the assembly in the next two days," he said.
The two-day special session of the state assembly will start from Thursday, during which two amendment bills related to reservation in admissions and public employment for different categories in the state will be tabled. The Congress government has been working for the economic prosperity of every section, he added.
The issue of reservation flared up in the state after the Chhattisgarh High Court in September this year set aside the Raman Singh-headed state government's 2012 order to raise the quota to 58 per cent in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions and held that reservation exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling was unconstitutional.
Following the high court's decision, reservation for tribal communities, which accounts for 32 per cent of the state's population, declined to 20 per cent from 32 per cent, triggering a protest by tribals. The CM further hit out at the BJP alleging the previous Raman Singh-led dispensation had indulged in looting and ditching tribals, farmers and youths.
"During the Raman Singh government, there were irregularities in paddy procurement. Bonus was only given during election year and then they used to ask 'kon as' (who are your). In our government, payments were made even during the coronavirus pandemic," he said. "We had promised Rs 2,500 for each quintal of paddy and loan waiver. Loan waiver promise was fulfilled and this year farmers are getting Rs 2,640 for per quintal of paddy," he said, adding that next year it will reach Rs 2,800.
Baghel claimed that Chhattisgarh is the only state in the country where farmers are getting such good returns. The CM on Wednesday addressed three election rallies in Bhanupratappur assembly segment, reserved for ST candidates, in Kanker district where the bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA and Chhattisgarh Assembly's Deputy Speaker Manoj Singh Mandavi last month. The Congress has fielded Savitri Mandavi, wife of deceased MLA Mandavi, for the contest. (PTI)
