Madhya Pradesh Assembly ratifies bill to extend SC/ST quota

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Friday unanimously ratified the Constitution (126th) Amendment Bill, which proposes to extend the quota to SC/STs in Lok Sabha and state assemblies by another 10 years.

After the bill was ratified, the House was adjourned sine-die.

A two-day special session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly was convened to ratify the bill. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha had passed the bill last month that required approval from at least 50 per cent of the state assemblies before implementation.

In his address, Chief Minister Kamal Nath said it is very rare that any bill is passed unanimously in the House.

He urged the Centre to re-introduce the tribal sub plan (TSP) in the country.

"The end of TSP may not affect other states, but it is useful for Madhya Pradesh as a large number of tribals reside in the state," Nath said.

On the first day of the special session on Thursday, the Assembly was adjourned after tributes were paid to Congress MLA Banwarilal Sharma and former legislator Rugnath Singh Anjana, who died recently.