M A I N   N E W S

Anti-reservationists spark fresh row
PG institutes ‘can’t implement quota’
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 11
The OBC quota debate refuses to die. A day after the Supreme Court said that 27 per cent seats would be reserved for OBCs in all centrally-aided educational institutions, anti-reservationists today sparked a fresh row, saying that post-graduate institutes like IIMs, AIIMS and PGIs were out of the quota ambit.

The government, on its part, clarified that there was no confusion on this matter and that all centrally-aided institutes, including post-graduate institutes like AIIMS, would go ahead and implement the 27 per cent OBC quota. The government is, however, still grappling with the issue of exclusion of the creamy layer.

Anti-reservationists meanwhile seemed sure of their interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement. M.L. Lahoti, who represented the anti-quota activists in the Supreme Court on this issue, today told The Tribune that “the Apex Court judgement, if read properly, concluded that post-graduate institutes cannot implement OBC quota. Two of the five judges in the Constitutional Bench have said that anyone who can reach higher secondary level can compete with anyone. The other three judges favoured the benchmark of graduation when determining the educational backwardness of beneficiaries. We are sure of the facts that like private educational institutes, PG institutes cannot offer OBC quota.”

The anti-reservation lobby said it would watch how the government handled this issue. They also said that they would not be surprised if the government sought a clarification on this matter from the Supreme Court.

Sources in the HRD Ministry, however, said that 27 per cent OBC quota would be implemented by all educational institutes, PG included. Efforts were on to see how the implementation could be worked out from this very session, as stated by Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh yesterday. The government is now in the process of listing out the beneficiaries of 27 per cent OBC quota in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Sources in the Union Ministry of Social Justice today said the issue of creamy layer would be sorted out keeping in consideration the definition of creamy layer, as mentioned in a 2004 Circular of the Department of Personnel and Training. “The definition of creamy layer first given in 1993 was later revised in 2004. It mentions six criteria, including economic criteria of Rs 2.5 lakh annual family income, to determine who falls in the creamy layer. All the OBCs notified in the Central list will be the beneficiaries of 27 per cent OBC quota, after they have stood the test of creamy layer. The issue will also go to the Cabinet”, said sources.

No official info, says IIM-A
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 11
The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, today said it had not received any official communication on the implementation of OBC quota from the Union Ministry of HRD. “We have put our admission list on hold and we cannot say when we would be in a position to release it. We are waiting to receive an official communication from the Ministry on this matter”.

IIM-A said while it was aware of the grey areas like whether the quota would be extended by post-graduate institutes, it would have to wait to receive a government direction on this issue.

SC questions effectiveness of reservation

New Delhi, April 11
Even though the Supreme Court allowed 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in Central educational institutions, it has raised questions on the effectiveness of such a policy for bringing equality in the society.

“There is no deletion from the list of other backward classes. It goes on increasing... is it that backwardness has increased instead of decreasing? If the answer is yes, as contended by the respondents, then one is bound to raise eyebrows as to the effectiveness of providing quotas,” Justices Arijit Pasayat and C.K. Thakker said.

“The inequalities are to be removed. Yet the fact that there has been no exclusion raises a doubt about the real concern to remove inequality,” he said while pointing out that since the concept of the OBC came into picture there has been no deletion of any caste from the category.

The court asked the Centre to deliberate whether the reservation policy since Independence had been effective in achieving the desired result. “If after nearly six decades the objectives have not been achieved, necessarily the need for its continuance warrants deliberations.” —PTI

Creamy Layer
Allies may push govt to file review petition
Anita Katyal
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 11
Upset UPA allies may force the government to go in for a review of the Supreme Court order on exclusion of the “creamy layer” of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from the ambit of reservations in higher education institutions, even though legal experts believe it will not stand judicial scrutiny.

The apex court’s judgement upholding the OBC quota in educational institutions has been welcomed by all political parties, but its decision on “creamy layer” has not gone well with pro- reservation champions in the UPA like RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss. The court’s definition of creamy layer, based on a 1993 government order, includes children of constitutional heads, MPs and MLAs and officers from the civil services.

Ramadoss, in fact, even drew Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s attention to the SC judgement at today’s Cabinet meeting to which the PM said any discussion on it would take place after the order has been studied in detail.

UPA sources believe the “creamy layer” issue will snowball further when Parliament opens next week given the strong presence of OBCs there, who will also exert pressure on the government to take on the Supreme Court in this regard. “All political parties will take a uniform stand against creamy layer,” a senior UPA minister said. The Congress chose to play safe and refused to comment on this issue with its spokesperson Manish Tewari merely stating that the party would take a view after the matter has been examined by the Union Cabinet.

Legal experts in the government said though the Centre may be pushed into seeking a review of the apex court’s judgement, it is bound to be struck down as the SC Bench is unlikely to overturn its unanimous order. Moreover, it was pointed out, the SC has also said that if reservation was extended to the “creamy layer” as defined by it, then it would be contrary to the basic structure of the Constitution. “Once they talk of the Constitution’s basic structure, then all doors are closed... it’s the end of the matter,” remarked another UPA minister.

Of the political parties, the Congress is expected to be the worst hit by this fresh focus on reservations. While regional parties like the RJD, the DMK and the Samajwadi Party, having a strong support base among the OBCs, are expected to benefit electorally.

“The fact is we will end up losing at both ends. We will alienate our upper caste supporters when we speak in favour of this judgement, as we cannot go against it. On the other hand, the OBCs will put us in the dock for not protecting their interests sufficiently given the exclusion of the creamy layer,” remarked a senior Congress leader.