Trouble likely in quota bill passage, PM meets ministers

Hinting at trouble in getting the promotion quota bill passed in Parliament, the government today said there is little time during the monsoon session, with the Prime Minister reviewing the situation along with home and defence ministers.

Hinting at trouble in getting the promotion quota bill passed in Parliament, the government on Wednesday said there is little time during the monsoon session, with the Prime Minister reviewing the situation along with home and defence ministers.

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"There is little time left in this session of Parliament... Let us see tomorrow (Thursday)," home minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters as he ventured out of a review meeting called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

When asked when the bill will get passed, now that it was in Rajya Sabha, Shinde said: "Our intention was clear. The Prime Minister and Congress president had wanted this bill to ensure social justice."

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has opposed the constitution amendment bill to provide for quotas to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in promotions in government jobs cleared by the Union cabinet on Tuesday in its present form and has sought similar quotas for Other Backward Classes.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) though wants the bill passed as introduced in Rajya Sabha.

Ruckus broke out in the Upper House earlier in the day when the bill was introduced by minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy resulting in a scuffle between an SP and a BSP member.