Cabinet Secy returns quota proposal

Commedi

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posted on 18 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi has returned the Central government's proposal to reserve 27 per cent seats for Other Backward Castes in all Central Universities and colleges including IITs and IIMs.

New Delhi: Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi has returned the Central government's proposal to reserve 27 per cent seats for Other Backward Castes in all Central Universities and colleges -- inculding IITs and IIMs.

Chaturvedi said that the proposal would be taken only up after the ongoing Assembly elections in the four states and one union territory are over.

HRD sources said that the bill on reservations will be send back to the Cabinet after seeking permission from the Election Commission.

In its proposal, the HRD Ministry had mooted raising reservations from the current 22.5 per cent to as high as 49.5 per cent.

Arjun Singh himself is believed to have written to the states asking them to speed up the process so that it may be ready for implementation for the 2006-7 academic session in state-level institutions.

Among institutes that were to bear the brunt of this policy were IITs, IIMs, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Delhi.

Private institutes, including IIT and IIM already provide reservations for Scheduled Castes (15 per cent) and Scheduled Tribes (7.5 per cent), as mandated by the Constitution.

The Election Commission had issued a show cause notice to the HRD Minister for announcing 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in institutes of higher learning while polls were on in five states and a union territory.

But Arjun Singh claimed he has not said anything in the matter that is not already in the public domain.

Arjun Singh added that the Commission has acted on the basis of media reports.

In his reply, the HRD minister said Article 15(5) of the Constitution, which came into force on January 20 already talks about increasing reservations for the backward classes.

The UPA Government's attempts to increase reservations from the present 22.5 per cent to 49.5 per cent in prestigious educational institutes sparked off a storm in the country.

In what seems like a repeat of the infamous Mandal politics of 1990s, students across the country reacted with shock and anger at Arjun Singh's proposals.