New Delhi, August 17
The government will bring a legislation in the Winter session of Parliament to overturn Supreme Court judgement abolishing government quotas for the members of depressed sections of the society in private unaided colleges and a regulatory mechanism to exercise social control over the entire education system.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave this assurance to a five-member delegation from the four Left parties, who called on him this afternoon.

“The government favours bringing a new law or one to amend the Constitution in the winter session to correct the situation arising out of the Apex Court’s verdict,” the leaders of the Left parties quoting Manmohan Singh said.

In the Lok Sabha, the government came under increasing pressure from allied political parties and Members of Parliament for a legislation to overturn the Supreme Court judgement.

‘This government is committed to the policy of reservation, policy of protection of all social, political and economic sections as given in the constitution,’ Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh told Lok Sabha while replying to a calling attention motion.

Mr Arjun Singh told the Lok Sabha that he had convened a meeting of state ministers in charge of professional education in Delhi on August 27 to evolve a national approach to last week’s apex Court ruling.

An all-party meeting would be convened before the end of the current session of Parliament to discuss the issue, he added.

DMK’s A. Krishnaswamy moved the motion regarding the need for suitable legislation to provide reservation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in all higher educational institutions recognised by the government.

The apex court, in its judgment last week, had said that the state had no authority to reserve a quota of state seats or to enforce any reservation policy in unaided professional colleges on the ground that the state’s powers would be a serious encroachment on the right and autonomy of private education institutions.

Agitated MPs said the verdict was ‘ultra vires’ of the Constitution as the quota for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes was provided for in the Constitution. They said the judgment would adversely affect the job quota for these communities too.

‘The country had more than 78 per cent of Backward communities. Cancelling their reservation is a regressive move,’ said Devendra Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Delegations of MPs from Tamil Nadu comprising parties of the UPA, headed by the DMK, and a separate Left parties leaders group met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to bring a Central legislation to provide for reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in self-financing higher educational institutions.

The MPs and political parties were of the view that the Supreme Court judgement was a “direct blow” to social justice.

Responding to a calling attention discussion on the subject in the Lok Sabha when members cutting across party lines sought a comprehensive legislation to retain reservation for depressed sections, Arjun Singh said the court verdict “impinges on social rights”.

“I want to categorically state that government is committed to the policy of reservation,” he said but added that reacting with anger and pain to the verdict would look improper.