Assembly passes Bill for OBC quota in colleges

The state government will have to increase 4,15,408 additional seats in the undergraduate courses and 30,334 seats in post-graduate courses in the phased manner to facilitate the target of reservation,Minister for Education Bratya Basu who introduced the Bill in the Assembly,said.

The state government will have to spend Rs 1069.14 crore over a period of six years to achieve this target.

However,the students belonging to creamy layer of OBC that will be specified by a rule issued later will not be get the benefit of reservation which will be applicable from the academic session beginning 2014-15.

Participating in the discussion,Leader of Opposition Surya Kanta Mishra demanded that the description of creamy layer should be provided in the legislation itself. Referring to a similar legislation passed by the Centre to incorporate reservation of students belonging to the OBC,Mishra said the state government should study that legislation to avoid any problem in the implementation of the Bill.

CPM’s Anisur Rahaman said that reservation for SC/ST students was already there through executive orders.

Also in the House

n Presidency University (Amendment) Bill 2013 that provides for the creation of a mentor group of prominent persons who would suggests measures to make the university a centre for academic excellence was passed in the Assembly on Thursday.

n Health Service Amendment Bill was passed on Thursday. It aims to provide incentives to MBBS doctors assigned in remote areas of the state. PTI