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Quota Bill gets Cabinet green signal
Published on Mon, Aug 21, 2006 at 21:38, Updated on Tue, Aug 22, 2006 at 10:57 in India section
Tags: OBC Quota Bill, Cabinet , New Delhi
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Monday night cleared a Bill providing 27 percent reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) in government-aided institutes of higher education.
Information and Broadcasting Minsiter P R Dasmunsi refused to give details, but said the Bill will be tabled before Parliament by August 25, the last day of the monsoon session.
Quota implementation would start from 2007 and it would be staggered. The decision, taken at a two-hour special meeting of the Cabinet, rejected the demand of DMK and PMK that the reservation be conducted in one go.
The quantum of reservation was not revealed, but it is believed to be up to 27 per cent for OBCs and combined with the quota for SC and ST.
The Bill, which doesn’t mention the creamy layer concept, will not apply to institutions where there aren't enough teachers or seats.
The draft Bill has been prepared on the basis of the recommendations of an Oversight Committee headed by former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily.
Though there have been protests against the quota, most political parties are expected to support the bill in Parliament, government sources said.
A separate draft Bill introducing 27 percent quota for OBCs in the unaided institution is likely to be introduced at a later stage. The draft of this second piece of legislation is being finalised by the HRD ministry, a ministry official said.
The second draft Bill would be taken up once the Moily committee comes out with a roadmap for implementing OBC quota system in unaided institutions, the official informed.
Six months ago, HRD Minister Arjun Singh announced that his ministry plans to bring in reservation for OBCs. This sparked off a nationwide agitation against and for the proposal.
The proposal could not be implemented then because of the impending assembly elections and the agitation. The government set up an Oversight Committee to prepare the roadmap for implementation of the reservation proposal.
The draft Bill proposes to reserve seats in top institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management.
(With Inputs from IANS and PTI)
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