Rajya Sabha Passes Bill to Extend SC/ST Reservation

Rajya Sabha passed a Constitution Amendment Bill to extend reservation to SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and state assemblies by another 10 years. Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on December 10. Reservation for members of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), given for the past 70 years in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, is due to end on January 25, 2020.

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The Constitution (126th) Amendment Bill, which saw heated exchange between the treasury and opposition benches, was approved unanimously in Rajya Sabha. During India’s Independence, the population of SC and ST were 5.13 crore and 1.91 crores respectively. As per the 2011 Census data, the SC and population were 20.13 crore and 10.45 crore respectively. In Parliament, there are 84 members from the Scheduled Caste and 47 from the Scheduled Tribe communities. There are 614 SC members and 554 ST members in the state assemblies across India.