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No OBC quota in Women’s bill: Moily
The government on Wednesday ruled out any provision of quota for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the Women’s Reservation Bill, saying their data was not available at the national level.
The government on Wednesday ruled out any provision of quota for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the Women’s Reservation Bill, saying their data was not available at the national level.
“There is no provision in the Constitution to provide for OBC quota, particularly for political reservation,” he said.
Moily said census on OBCs hadn’t been pursued since 1931. “Unless the data is available, it is not possible to pick up who’s an OBC and who’s not.” He said if Parliament passed the bill with an amendment providing OBC quota, the court would strike it down “from day one”.
He hoped that the “historic legislation”, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, would go through in the Lok Sabha in April.
N-liability bill
Moily indicated the government would hold discussions with the BJP and Left parties on the Nuclear Liability Bill.
He also did not rule out the possibility of raising the compensation cap of Rs 500 crore, as envisaged in the bill. The Rs 500 crore cap is opposed by the opposition parties.
