Nitish’s big pre-poll announcement: Domicile rule to apply to 35% quota for women in govt jobs

“A woman who is a resident of Bihar alone will now be able to avail the existing 35% quota in jobs,” state Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet) S Siddharth told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. The decision is significant given that it comes just months before the state heads to the polls and is another attempt by the NDA government to consolidate its “caste-neutral” vote bank of women. The Nitish government had rolled out the 35% quota for women in January 2016. At the time, the JD(U) was in power along with the RJD and the Congress.

To be eligible for domicile status in Bihar, a person should have been a resident of the state for at least three years, own a house or land, or, in the case of women, be married to a resident of the state. A domicile should also have a voter ID card, but it is not a mandatory requirement. Less than 1.57% of the state’s population are state government employees. As of last month, the state had 36,000 women in the police force, and has employed more than 2.5 lakh women teachers since 2007.

Among the other women-centric measures of state administrations led by Nitish Kumar over the years have been a 50% quota for women in panchayats, raising more than 10 lakh self-help groups, and forming two all-women police battalions.

Before this, the government had briefly introduced the domicile rule for schoolteacher recruitment in December 2020, following a series of protests. However, the short-lived Opposition Mahagathbandhan government, also led by Nitish Kumar, withdrew it in June 2023 by the short-lived Mahagathbandhan alliance that subsequently came to power, allowing candidates from any state to apply for the teaching positions.

The state education minister at the time, Chandrashekar Yadav, cited “vacant seats for quality mathematics and science teachers” as the reason, while bureaucrats said “constitutional provisions and Supreme Court rulings” were the reasons for the rollback.

The demand for domicile reservation flows from Bihar’s economic and social challenges. As per a NITI Aayog report, titled Macro and Fiscal Landscape of the State of Bihar, published this March, the state’s economy is predominantly agrarian, with 49.6% its workforce engaged in agriculture as of 2022-23. Only 5.7% of the workforce has manufacturing jobs, one of the lowest shares in the country. Service and construction jobs make up the rest of the jobs pie and constitute 26% and 18.4% of the workforce, respectively.

Youth Commission set up

In another significant decision, the Cabinet announced the formation of the Bihar Youth Commission to provide more employment opportunities to the youth. It will consist of a chairperson, two vice-chairpersons, and seven members, with a maximum age limit of 45 years.

The Commission will play a key role in advising the government on matters related to improving the condition of the youth. It will coordinate with various departments to ensure better education and employment for the youth, and help them become self-reliant, skilled, and employment-oriented, said S Siddharth. According to him, the government body will prioritise youth employment in the private sector in the state, protect the interests of students and those working outside Bihar, and run de-addiction programmes, among other things.