The Bihar government has issued a clear directive that reserved category candidates who secure selection purely on merit will be counted against open or unreserved seats and not against the reserved quota. The order aims to ensure that the seats set aside for Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes Extremely Backward Classes and Backward Classes remain available for other eligible candidates from those categories.
The General Administration Department has sent the instruction to all departments selection commissions and district magistrates. The letter notes that several recruiting bodies and educational institutions have not been following the established rule. Instead of placing high scoring reserved category candidates in the open merit list they have been adjusting them within the reserved quota. This practice reduces the number of seats actually available for candidates who need the benefit of reservation.
Under Bihar’s reservation framework direct recruitment posts follow a structure of 40% open merit, 10% for Economically Weaker Sections, and 50% reserved. Within the reserved portion Scheduled Castes have 16%, Scheduled Tribes 1%, Extremely Backward Classes 18%, and Backward Classes 12%. There is also a horizontal reservation of 3% for women from backward classes. The same principle applies to admissions in educational institutions governed by the relevant state laws.
The rule itself is not new. Both the Bihar Reservation In Vacancies in Posts and Services Act 1991 and the law governing admissions in educational institutions provide that a candidate belonging to a reserved category who scores high enough to make the general cut off must be treated as an open category selectee. Only if the candidate’s score falls below the general cut off is the seat drawn from the reserved quota. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld this approach holding that the general category is open to all on the basis of merit and is not a quota reserved for any particular social group.
Despite the settled position complaints had reached the state government that some commissions and institutions continued to count meritorious reserved candidates against the reserved seats. The latest order expresses dissatisfaction at this repeated violation and directs strict compliance. Economically Weaker Section candidates selected on pure merit will also be counted in the open category.
The practical effect is significant for both employment and education. When a high scoring SC ST EBC or BC candidate is placed in the open list the reserved seat that would otherwise have been used remains vacant for another candidate from the same category who could not clear the general cut off. This preserves the intended numerical benefit of reservation while recognising individual merit. For general category candidates the open seats continue to be filled strictly on the basis of marks without any reduction caused by the migration of reserved candidates.
The directive covers both government recruitments and admissions to educational institutions. Selection commissions and college administrations have been told to revise their practices accordingly. The government has made it clear that any further deviation will be viewed seriously.
By reiterating and enforcing the rule Bihar has sought to align administrative practice with the legal position that merit and reservation can operate together without one diminishing the other. The order restores the original design of the quota system in which reserved seats are meant for those who require them while candidates who succeed on open competition are not made to consume the protective quota.
