The Meghalaya Assembly on Monday ratified a bill to extend reservation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for another 10 years.
The Assembly ratified the Constitution (126th) Amendment Bill, 2019 after members of the House unanimously passed a resolution brought by the state government.
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The special session of the State Assembly was held on Monday specifically to ratify the Bill which had been passed by in Parliament in December last year.
The bill relates to extension of quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
The resolution was tabled by chief minister Conrad K Sangma and all members of the Assembly both ruling and opposition unanimously passed the resolution through a voice vote.
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The ratification of the Amendment Bill will facilitate continuation of the reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assembly for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for another ten years that is upto January 25, 2030.
Earlier, Conrad said that this particular amendment has been done every ten years for the past 70 years from the commencement of the Constitution to extend the period for reservation of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats.
Out of 60 Assembly seats in Meghalaya, 55 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and five general seats.
Both the Lok Sabha seats – Shillong and Tura are also reserved for Scheduled Tribes.