Dispatch News.
Raipur. The issue of a reservation bill waiting for the Raj Bhawan’s nod in Chhattisgarh has resurfaced. When the media questioned Governor Vishwabhushan Harichandan regarding the reservation bill, he reportedly described the issue as purely political and referred the matter to the chief minister.
The occasion was the convocation ceremony of the Agricultural University. The Governor, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, attended the convocation as a guest. The pressmen raised the question of the reservation bill.
When the media questioned Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, he said he had written a letter to the Prime Minister but had received no reply. Overall, the Bharatiya Janata Party is against reservation. CM further said the bill, passed by the assembly on December 2, 2022, is stuck in the Raj Bhawan. “We have to start an agriculture college, and more colleges are being opened. Now we have to recruit; we will have to recruit staff, assistant professors, but until the reservation bill is pending, we cannot recruit,” said the chief minister.
The Chief Minister further said that there are many departments in which the government has to recruit staff.
Last month, when Harichandan took charge as the Governor of Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel reached Raj Bhavan to meet him and discussed with him the issue of the reservation bill in the presence of State Chief Secretary Amitabh Jain and Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Subrat Sahu.
The state government, in a special session of the assembly on December 2, 2022, increased the reservation for various classes in the state. After this, 32 per cent of the seats were reserved for scheduled tribes, 27 per cent for OBCs, 13 per cent for scheduled castes, and 4 per cent for economically weaker sections in Chhattisgarh. The bill was sent to the governor for approval. Anusuiya Uikey, the governor, refused to accept it and kept it to herself.
Advocate Himank Saluja and the state government had filed a petition regarding the governor’s refusal to accept the bill. The state government has challenged in the high court the stalling of the reservation bill. The hearing, in this case, is still pending. The governor’s signature is awaited on the reservation bill since December 2.
