Hundreds of protesters from Scheduled Caste and OBC organisations took out a protest march in Patna on Tuesday, demanding that the state government implement a 65 per cent reservation quota instead of the existing 50 per cent. Police detained seven protesters and later released them.

The protesters have been demanding implementation of the enhanced 65 per cent quota, which was declared “unconstitutional” by the Patna High Court in 2024.

The protest, held under the banner of the Aarakshan Badhao Samvidhan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, was led by Dalit rights activist Amar Paswan Azad.

The protest, held under the banner of the Aarakshan Badhao Samvidhan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, was led by Dalit rights activist Amar Paswan Azad. (Special arrangement photo)

The Bihar government, under former chief minister Nitish Kumar, had raised the reservation ceiling to 65 per cent following the Bihar Caste-based Survey report of 2022-23. The Patna High Court struck down the decision in 2024, and the Supreme Court later refused to stay the High Court order.

At present, the Bihar government provides 16 per cent reservation to Scheduled Castes, one per cent to Scheduled Tribes, 18 per cent to Extremely Backward Classes, 12 per cent to Other Backward Classes and three per cent to Backward Class women.

In view of the recent scale and frequency of protests, Bihar Police deployed personnel from more than 20 police stations. The protest march, which began at Gandhi Maidan and was headed towards Raj Bhavan, was stopped at Dak Bungalow Chowk, where police erected makeshift iron gates and barriers to prevent the protesters from moving ahead.

Azad told reporters, “We have two main demands: putting the 65 per cent quota decision of the Bihar government in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to give it legal immunity, and introducing reservation in the private sector to realise the goal of an inclusive society.”

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The protesters also raised demands including an end to the diversion of SC/ST sub-plan funds to other departments, a halt to bulldozer action against Dalit houses, action against atrocities on Dalits and justice for victims, 50 per cent reservation in contractual works, and reservation in promotions for SC/ST employees.