Rajya Sabha Passes Bill to Extend SC/ST Reservation in Legislatures by 10 More Years

Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on December 10.

PTI

Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on December 10.

rajya sabha passes bill to extend sc st reservation in legislatures by 10 more years

Parliament. Photo: Reuters/The Wire

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a Constitution Amendment Bill to extend reservation to SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and state assemblies by another 10 years.

Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on December 10.

Reservation for members of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), given for the past 70 years in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, is due to end on January 25, 2020.

Also read: SC/ST Creamy Layer Exclusion: Centre Seeks Review of SC Decision on Quotas

The Constitution (126th) Amendment Bill, which saw heated exchange between the treasury and opposition benches, was approved unanimously in Rajya Sabha.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, while replying to a debate on the bill, assured the House that the Modi government would not end reservation and not do anything which is against the spirit of the Constitution.

The debate witnessed heated exchange between Prasad and Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, after which Congress members staged a walkout.

Congress members later returned to the House for the voting process.

This article went live on December twelfth, two thousand nineteen, at thirty-seven minutes past six in the evening.

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