EWS quota: Uttar Pradesh third state to approve reservation for the poor

The Uttar Pradesh government Friday approved 10 per cent reservation in jobs and educational institutions for the economically backward in the general category. The nod was given at a meeting here of the state cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, senior cabinet minister and UP government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma told mediapersons.

Uttar Pradesh became the third state after Gujarat and Jharkhand to approve the legislation which has to be ratified by at least half the state Assemblies in the country.

The Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, providing for 10 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to the economically weaker sections in the general category was passed by Parliament in its recently concluded winter session.

President Ram Nath Kovind has since given his assent to the bill. "The cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the notification granting 10 per cent reservation to the poor in the general category which has come into effect on January 14," Sharma said.

"The UP government will implement the quota for the economically backward in the general category fully without touching the reservation for other sections of the society," he said.

Meanwhile, a meeting between Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, who holds the Higher Education portfolio, and state and private universities, approved a proposal for implementing the quota.

There are 49 universities in the state, including four Central universities, 15 state universities and 27 private universities, together accounting for over 44,000 seats in various disciplines.