President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday signed into law a bill granting 10% reservation to the economically backward among upper castes, a notification in the official gazette said.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and the Rajya Sabha a day later. The bill provides reservations in aided and unaided institutions to individuals below an income of Rs 8 lakh per annum. The government has said that the legislation will not affect the existing reservations for other groups.
The notification said the legislation will be known as The Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019, and will come into force on such date as the Centre notifies.
Several Opposition parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, and the National Congress Party have supported the bill. However, they have accused the Centre of introducing it with the General Elections in mind. Polls are expected to be held in April and May this year. But most Opposition parties eventually voted in favour of the bill in both Houses.
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