UP holds assembly session to ratify SC/ST quota

A special sitting of the Uttar Pradesh state Legislature was held on Tuesday to ratify a bill to extend reservation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for another 10 years.

The bill was passed unanimously in the state assembly after a brief discussion.

The reservation for SCs, STs and Anglo Indians have given for the past 70 years in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was due to end on January 25, 2020, necessitating the Constitution amendment bill.

Since the reservation for Anglo-Indians in the form of "nomination" is set to expire on January 25 as the bill does not extend the facility to the community, some members urged that the matter be taken up at a later stage.

The Parliament recently passed a Constitution amendment bill in this regard and the legislation has to be ratified by state legislatures before it becomes a law.

There are 84 members from the Scheduled Caste and 47 from the Scheduled Tribe communities in Parliament.

In the-state assemblies across India, there are 614 SC members and 554 ST members.