Amid raging politics on the issue, the Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday issued an order implementing 27 per cent reservation for other backward communities (OBC) in public service and direct government recruitments.
The General Administration Department (GAD) of the state government issued the order with reference to an opinion of the state Advocate General Purushaindra Kaurav, even as the final hearing of petitions challenging the government decision to enhance reservation for OBC category is slated to commence on September 20.
Last week, the advocate general had conveyed his opinion to the GAD that, except for the cases in which the High Court had issued stay or interim orders, the government was at liberty to implement 27 per cent reservation in all other recruitment and admission processes.
The stay and interim orders of the High Court are on petitions related to medical PG admissions through NEET 2019-20; medical officers’ recruitment by MP Public Service Commission (MPPSC) and school teachers’ appointment, the advocate general had clarified.
The GAD order, directed at the principal secretaries, secretaries and heads of various government departments, divisional commissioners, district collectors and chief executive officers of zilla (district) panchayats, mentions that apart from the aforesaid cases, the AG opinion is clear that 27 per cent reservation for OBC category is to be implemented in all recruitments/recruitment tests in accordance with the amended Act of March 2019. The officials have been asked to take steps in consonance with the AG opinion for recruitments/recruitment tests.
Politics has been raging on the issue, with both Congress and BJP wanting to take credit. Congress has now accused the BJP of trying to mislead the people. Party spokesman J.P. Dhanopia, speaking to THE WEEK, said that there was no overall stay on the 2019 amended Act, save the particular cases, but the BJP government failed the implement the 27 per cent reservation thus depriving the OBC people of their rights and it is now trying to mislead the people by coming out with an order at this juncture.
It was the Kamal Nath government that decided to increase the OBC reservation (in public service and direct recruitment in government jobs) to 27 per cent from 14 per cent in March 2019. However, immediately afterwards, the matter was taken to the court and the implementation was stayed.
The issue hung fire till recently as the hearing (34 petitions clubbed together) continued in the High Court, but was raked up by the Congress recently in a major way. The Congress accused the government of failing to take a strong stand in the court and a vociferous protest on this issue led to state assembly being adjourned sine die within two days during the recent monsoon session.
The BJP government then decided to field the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta in the court during a hearing on September 1. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan personally met Mehta for this in New Delhi last week. But the High Court did not pass any order on the plea for vacation of stay/interim order in the above mentioned cases. Rather, the double bench of HC, headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq listed all the petitions for final hearing.
After this, the Congress announced that it will put senior advocates Indira Jaising and Abhishek Manu Singhvi to argue the case in favour of a group of individual and organisational litigants supporting the 2019 amendment to the reservation Act.
Why is the issue important?
The clamour for credit taking on the issue is because during the course of hearing in the court, it became clear (through an affidavit of the state government based on unpublished caste census of 2011) that the OBC community constituted 50.9 per cent population of the state. However, the community got only 14 per cent reservation as against 20 per cent for ST and 16 for SC communities that constitute 21.1 per cent and 16.6 per cent population respectively.
Given the fact that more than half the population belongs to the OBC community, they can play a major role in the prospects of the both the parties in upcoming bypolls (one Lok Sabha and three assembly seats) and, in long run, the 2023 Assembly polls. The issue can also have an impact on the 2022 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, which shares a long border with MP and families across state borders are related to each other.
