Bihar govt to reserve seats in judiciary

PATNA: In a move which will have a far reaching impact on the state polity and will further help strengthen the political position of the ruling JD(U), the Bihar government has decided to open the doors of reservation for the OBCs, SCs and the STs in the state judicial services. The proposal to allow reservation to the socially neglected class was approved by the state cabinet meeting which was held here on Thursday at the official residence of the chief minister.

"This is a landmark decision which will now pave the way for the entry of the downtrodden and the socially backward class into the state judicial services . The demand was pending for years but the NDA government finally decided to take a call to fulfill the aspirations of the socially backward people "deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi told ET.

As of now, no quota was fixed for any category in the higher judicial services . But, henceforth the benefits of reservation will be made available for the SC, ST and OBC candidates in the higher judicial services following the cabinet decision. In case of the subordinate judicial services, the benefits of reservation were hitherto only available for the SCs and ST candidates but the OBC candidates will now also be admissible for reservation facility .

The decision will have its political ramifications as it will help consolidate the backward caste votebank of the ruling JD(U) . The decision to provide reservation for the SCs and the STs in the higher judicial services will also help augment the political stock of the ruling NDA particularly the JD(U).
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