Govt committed to giving quota to the weak, says Nadda

New Delhi

New Delhi

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Friday the party and the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi were committed to social justice and providing quotas to weaker sections, a day after the Supreme Court said reservation of seats to certain communities in educational institutions was not a fundamental right.

“Our commitment to social justice is unshakeable. We stand committed for reservation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said this,” BJP president JP Nadda said, adding that his party was working to ensure social harmony.

Meanwhile, Union food minister Ram Vilas Paswan, the leader of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner Lok Janshakti Party, demanded that all parties should come together and put all laws related to quota in the ninth schedule of the Constitution, which will preclude any legal challenge.

Paswan said reservation, which provides scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes (OBCs) and economically backward members of general castes quota in government jobs and educational institutions, may not be a fundamental right but is very much a constitutional right.

The Supreme Court refused on Thursday to entertain pleas of various parties challenging the Centre’s decision not to grant 50% reservation to OBCs as per a Tamil Nadu law in medical seats surrendered by the state in the all India quota for undergraduate, postgraduate and dental courses in 2020-21, saying the right to reservation is not a fundamental right.