Odisha Govt reduces SEBC quota from 27% to 11.25%

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, June 25:

With Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announcing that nearly 40, 000 vacancies in government jobs would be filled up within the next six months, the Odisha government on Tuesday decided to slash the share of reservation for the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) category from 27 per cent to 11.25 per cent as an interim measure till the adjudication in the matter in the High Court is over, official sources said.

The ST and SC Development department on Tuesday notified the state government’s decision in the form of a resolution.

The resolution said; “In case of direct recruitment to the posts and services, there shall be reservation of posts and service in favour of SEBC to extent of 11.25 per cent as an interim measures, till the adjudication of the process reaches its final conclusion”.

In 2008, the state government had enacted a legislation fixing the quota for socially and educationally backward classes in government jobs at 27 per cent. Odisha Reservation of Posts and Services (for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes) Act, 2008 came into force by way of a gazette notification in 2009.

However, the Act was challenged in the Odisha Administrative Tribunal.

The Tribunal, in its order dated December 12, 2013, had quashed the Act and had given a direction to the government to modify the advertisement for recruitment to ensure that reservatios did not exceed ceiling limit of 50 per cent in respect of ST, SC, SEBC categories of candidates.

The state’s law had provided reservation of 27 per cent to SEBC while fixing 16.25 per cent and 22.5 per cent, respectively for SC and ST. As a result, the total share of job reservation had gone up to 65.75 per cent. This was despite the fact that the Supreme Court has fixed 50 per cent limit for the total job reservation.

The resolution further said that while admitting the writ petition, the High Court has given direction to the state government to furnish quantifiable data in respect of SEBC category in the state service. “For collection of such quantifiable data, more time is required,” it said.
The decision comes after a number of appointments made by the state government in the recent past were challenged in different courts,”it said.