The Lok Sabha, on Tuesday, passed the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, which offers 10 % reservation quota for the economically weaker sections (EWS) under the General Category.
According to the bill, anyone with an annual income of less than 8 lakhs and 5 acres of land is eligible to be given the reservation quota for getting admitted to educational institutions and getting jobs. The approved reservation bill is likely to help people like Brahmins, Rajputs (Thakur,) Jats, Marathas, Bhumihars and several traders of the Kapu and Kamma communities.
After the Union Cabinet cleared the bill, the bill was discussed in the Lok Sabha and following the 4 hour long discussion, the majority of the Members of Parliament (MP) voted in favour of the bill. Out of 326 members, 323 members voted in favour of the bill, whereas 3 were against it.
Ministers and leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party leader, Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister, and Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, were present during the discussion.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS,) the Trinamool Congress (TMC,) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) supported the bill, but other opposition parties such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD,) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress party questioned the timing of the bill.
Other parties such as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) walked out of the ongoing Lok Sabha discussion, ahead of the voting.
The amended bill, approved by the Union Cabinet and Lok Sabha, will, today, be sent to the Rajya Sabha for approval.
The Rajya Sabha will decide whether the bill should be approved or not. As per the rules, a two thirds majority is mandatory in both the Parliamentary houses to pass the reservation bill, as the Constitution of India does not allow reservation based on economic backwardness.
