Chhattisgarh Assembly's special 2-day session on quota bills begins; House adjourned after tributes

A special two-day session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly began here on Thursday for the passage of two bills related to reservation for different categories in government jobs and admission in educational institutions.On the first day of the session, members paid rich tributes to two deceased leaders - Congress MLA and Deputy Speaker of the House Manoj Singh Mandavi and former Bharatiya Janata Party BJP legislator Dipak Patel.

A special two-day session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly began here on Thursday for the passage of two bills related to reservation for different categories in government jobs and admission in educational institutions.

On the first day of the session, members paid rich tributes to two deceased leaders - Congress MLA and Deputy Speaker of the House Manoj Singh Mandavi and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Dipak Patel. Both of them passed away in October this year. After paying obituary references, the House was adjourned for the day.

As soon as the House proceedings began, Assembly Speaker Charandas Mahant mentioned about the death of Mandavi and Patel, and paid tributes to them.

The speaker said Mandavi had been at the forefront for development and welfare of tribal communities.

In his demise, the state has lost a senior politician, tribal mass leader and social worker, he added.

The 58-year-old leader, Mandavi, who represented Bhanupratappur assembly segment three times, died on October 16 following a heart attack.

Patel, who was elected as an MLA once in 2008 from Manendragarh seat in the state, was an experienced and skilled politician, he added.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel, Health Minister T S Singh Deo, former CM Raman Singh and other members also paid homage to two leaders and recalled their contribution.

Baghel said Mandavi used to effectively raise the issues pertaining to tribals and always strived for the progress of the tribal community and development of his region.

His work, personality and ideas will remain alive forever, he added.

Senior BJP MLA Ajay Chandrakar said Mandavi's faith in 'Sanatan Dharma' and interest in religious works were inherited.

Soon after the obituary references, the House was adjourned for the day.

The two-day special session of the state Assembly has been convened to get the two bills related to reservation for different categories passed. According to state government officials, a provision of 32 per cent quota has been made for the Scheduled Tribes (ST), 27 per cent for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 13 per cent for Scheduled Castes (SC) and four per cent for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in the bills. The total reservation in the state would go up to 76 per cent after the bill gets passed in the assembly. The issue of reservation flared up in the state after the Chhattisgarh High Court in September this year set aside the Raman Singh-headed state government's 2012 order to raise the quota to 58 per cent in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions and held that reservation exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling was unconstitutional.

Following the high court's decision, reservation for tribal communities, which accounts for 32 per cent of the state's population, declined to 20 per cent from 32 per cent, triggering a protest by tribals.