Govt rushes to roll out quota from next session

The Govt has made its intention clear to implement the 27% OBC reservation from the next academic year, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Apr 16, 2008, 01:59:24 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The government has made its intention clear to implement the 27 per cent OBC reservation from the next academic year (2008-09), with the HRD Ministry circulating a Cabinet note to exclude creamy layer from the ambit of the law.

In the note it has sought permission to amend the Central Education Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2007 to ensure the creamy layer does not benefit from the reservation.

HRD Minister Arjun Singh has urged ministries to give their comments fast so that reservation can be implemented. “At least the quantum of reservation suggested by the Moily Committee for the first year would be implemented,” said an official.

The view is firmly endorsed in Singh’s letter to his Cabinet colleagues stressing on the paucity of time to implement the revised law from the next academic year.

His ministry wants to discuss the amendment proposal in next week’s Cabinet meeting so that an amendment bill can be introduced in the ongoing budget session.

“Most Central educational institutions initiate their admission process in May. Before that happens, we want to complete the formalities to implement OBC reservation as per Supreme Court orders,” said a ministry official.

The Social Justice Ministry has said the present policy on creamy layer would apply for admissions in institutions of higher learning.

Some UPA allies like the PMK had asked the government to increase annual income criteria of Rs 2.5 lakh to define creamy layer so that a larger number of backwards could benefit.

Singh was favourable to the idea considering it essential to fill the quota. But the government wants more time to meet such a demand.

Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar said the National Commission for Backward Classes has been asked to examine the issue and review the OBC list. “Till then, the present rule on creamy layer will apply.”

This means the Rs 2.5 lakh criteria plus other conditions in the government’s 2004 notification on the issue would apply for admissions in the 27 OBC quota from the next academic year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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