<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Another first from Stephen's: Quota for Dalit Christians </b>
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
St Stephen's officiating principal Valson Thampu on Tuesday said that of the proposed 40 per cent reservation for Christians in the college, 25 percent would be earmarked for Dalit Christians. This, said Thampu, has been done to help the poor among the Christian. Thampu believes that his decision on increasing the reservation from 30 to 40 per cent is likely to sail through at the Supreme Council meeting on Tuesday.
The matter is all set to find favour with the Supreme Council of the college, which is meeting on Tuesday evening. The faculty members of the college will put their views - in written - before Council in the meeting and Governing Body will decide upon it on Wednesday.
When asked to define Dalit Christian, which is still to be notified by Government, media coordinator of the college Vinod Chowdhry said, <b>"This question should be addressed to Reverend Thampu when he addresses a Press conference on the issue on Wednesday."</b>
"We have proposed to increase the reservation for Christians in the college from 30 to 40 per cent. Out of this 40 per cent, 25 per cent will be reserved for the Dalit Christians," said Thampu while adding that the decision is aimed at helping the poor and downtrodden among Christians.
"The TA Pai Judgement given by the Supreme Court in 2002 clearly states that minority institutions should reserve 50 per cent seats for the minority category students. We are making it upto 40 per cent only," he said.
He said that the teachers of the college would hopefully support him in the noble cause. Reacting to the 'ifs and buts' of some of the faculty members making apprehensions about the dilution the 'centre of excellence' status of the college, Thampu said these are baseless ideas.
He said that one should try to accommodate them and help them in getting ahead rather than making wrong apprehensions. The 20 per cent reservation for other categories - 5 per cent for the sports quota and 15 per cent for the SC/ST, disabled and children/widows/wives of soldiers killed or disabled will remain as usual.<b> It will however lessen the total number of seats for the general category students by around 40.</b>
Some of the teachers of the college, however, kept insisting on the fact that the college should first evolve some 'support system' for the Dalit Christians. "There should be the provision of evening classes and extra tutorials for such candidates. They should be made able enough to compete with the other students. Otherwise there is no use forcing them on the college," said one of the teachers. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I hope Dalit Christian Network will help them. <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Jun 13 2007, 01:26 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Jun 13 2007, 01:26 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Another first from Stephen's: Quota for Dalit Christians </b>
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
St Stephen's officiating principal Valson Thampu on Tuesday said that of the proposed 40 per cent reservation for Christians in the college, 25 percent would be earmarked for Dalit Christians. This, said Thampu, has been done to help the poor among the Christian. Thampu believes that his decision on increasing the reservation from 30 to 40 per cent is likely to sail through at the Supreme Council meeting on Tuesday.
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I hope Dalit Christian Network will help them. <!--emo& --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
[right][snapback]70043[/snapback][/right]
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St Stephen's: Murder In The Cathedral?
It is important to note here that while St Stephen's was founded by Christians, it is funded by the state. According to the Union ministry of education, fully 95 per cent of the expenses of the college are met by the University Grants Commission. Why should a college that draws so heavily on the public exchequer be allowed to choose 40 per cent of its students from 2 per cent of the country's population? The new policies are claimed by their proponents to be 'legal', but they are surely unethical
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Creamy layer among SCs kept out of elite scholarship </b>
Rajeev Ranjan Roy | New Delhi
In what looks set to give a new dimension to the raging debate over quota, the Centre has debarred the 'creamy layer' among the Scheduled Castes from reaping the benefits of elite scholarship schemes to study in the institutes of academic excellence like IITs and IIMs.
The scholarship meant for 'top class education' will be given only those SC students, whose parents' earning does not exceed Rs 2 lakh per annum.
<b>"The ceiling of Rs 2 lakh intends to help out the needy. The benefits should go straight to the students whose parents cannot afford the cost of highly specialised education in institutions like IITs or any such private institution,"</b> Union Social Justice and Empowerment (S&JE) Minister Meira Kumar said.
The 'creamy layer' clause in scholarship holds significance in view of the recent observation of the Supreme Court to exclude the 'creamy layer' from enjoying the benefits of quota.
Although the Government did not see merit in the apex court's observation, the clamour for excluding the 'creamy lot' from the ambit of quota has started pouring in from different quarters. A section of Meenas, a ST community from Rajasthan, have even petitioned the office of the Prime Minister to this effect.
Initially to be given to 1,250 SC students, the Ministry has earmarked over Rs 40 crore to be disbursed during five years, starting from 2007-08. The students getting admission in the private institutions will get Rs 2 lakh per annum each, while those admitted in the private sector flying club for commercial pilot training would be entitled to Rs 3.72 lakh each annually.
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<b>Affirmative action Chaos in India</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As in the United States, preferential policies in India have bred not only resentment but also widespread corruption. Many Indians, for example, have tried to exploit group preferences in employment and education by fraudulently claiming lower-caste membership. âCounterfeiters do a brisk business in false lower caste certificates to allow upper caste applicants to take advantage of job or education quotas,â reports the Washington Post.
But the most notable -- and predictable -- result of Indiaâs preference programs has been group polarization evidenced by such extreme measures is the creation of private caste armies.
Affirmative action is firmly rooted in the leftist paradigm that views society as composed only of dominators and the dominated, oppressors and the oppressed. And the Left, anointing itself as the agent of cosmic justice that will punish the âoppressorsâ and remake the world according to the noble standard of mandatory âequality,â justifies preferential policies by citing the purportedly self-evident notions of collective guilt and collective innocence -- where race and class ultimately determine who is deserving of blame or grace, and where there are no shades of gray.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Church pays 5% but wants 100% say </b>
Durgesh Nandan Jha | New Delhi
It contributes just five per cent to the annual budget of St Stephen's College, but the Church of North India (CNI) wants to impose its own set of rules on the institution.
The college's acting principal Rev Valson Thampu justified the violation of the law of the land and the Supreme Court directive on the grounds that as a minority institution, the college had all the rights to work for the uplift of its own community.
Thampu said that the 95 per cent contribution by the University Grants Commission (UGC) was nothing considering the fact that the land, infrastructure and maintenance charges were being met from the contribution by the Christian community.
Like all other trust colleges of Delhi University, St Stephen's College too gets grants amounting to 95 per cent of its annual budget from the UGC.
For instance, like the Shri Ram Foundation or the Ramjas Trust, the CNI contributes just five per cent of the annual budget. "This five per cent contribution too is collected through fees from students enrolled in these colleges," said a university official. "These trusts control the institutions by paying not a single penny," added the official.
"<b>This college is run by the Christian community. The UGC's annual grant of Rs 4 crore to 4.5 crore does not fulfill our demands. Though I cannot remember the exact amount spent by the college each year and the funding by the Christian community, I can firmly say that the maximum inputs for the running of this college comes from the Christian community and not from the UGC,"</b> said Thampu.
<b>When confronted with the fact that the UGC was meeting 95 per cent of the annual budgetary demand, Thampu said that the Christian community had bought the 33-acre plot on which the college was established. "The CNI bought this 33-acre land in 1937 without any concession applicable these days on purchasing land for educational institutions,"</b> he added.
<b>The move by the CNI to provide reservation to constitutionally unrecognised Dalit Christians in the admissions to St Stephen's College has stirred a hornets' nest.</b> Thampu, as the acting principal of the college, has been executing policies, which are in contravention of the Supreme Court directive, capping quota at 50 per cent. The new admission policy has taken the quota beyond the 50 per cent mark.
"Charity begins at home. First we have to work for our own community by whose money we are running this college," added Thampu completely ignoring the fact that the UGC grant was actually the taxpayers' money that has no religion. The teachers and senior officials of the university hold the view that the college was misusing its minority status to implement the agenda of the CNI.
<b>
"There are more than 10 colleges in the university that are run by different trusts like the Shri Ram Foundation and the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee. Also, there are Government-run institutions that are totally funded by the Delhi Government. Still, none of them have tried to bring their own rules,"</b> said a university official.
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<b>The politics of division</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The politics of division
The primary factor in Indian elections is not governance <b>but identity</b>,
not what you do but who you are
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<b>Rajasthan Brahmins now seek job quotas</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sharma said Brahmins were becoming socially and economically backward. "Brahmins in Rajasthan have nothing - no jobs, no land and no means of survival. We are not doing well economically.
"The country does not need caste-based reservations. Instead, there should be reservation on the basis of economic and social conditions regardless of caste or tribe."
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Situation not dissimilar to recent news on a SC/ST candidate who topped IAS exams and there was some controversy regarding the posting as only general category had the better posting.
Here minority student refused admission has the cut-off for the lesser number of minority seats (40%) was higher than cut-off for larger number of majority seats (60%). In india the student would have got the seat, as a SC student can compete under general categories, not so with minority vs white situation.
BTW where are those congressmen who spring to dalit rescue in india? Can't they do something?? <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Quota dogs Indian girl... in the US
June 26, 2007 15:49 IST
A 11-year old Indian-American girl was denied admission to an elite public school in New York because of a race-based quota system that was established in 1974 following a federal court order.
Nikita Rau's Indian descent came in the way of her entry into the Mark Twain School in Coney Island, an institution that attracts gifted students, as being a minority student meant attaining a higher cut-off mark in the admission test.
"I feel bad because I would have gotten in if I were white," Nikita said. The education officials agreed that it was unfair but said they had no choice but to follow the court order until it is overturned.
The quota system was originally meant to boost the enrolment of minorities. The judge had allocated 60 per cent seats to the whites and 40 per cent to the minority students.
The racial quota was established to achieve desegregation but Nikita's father Anjan Rau, a Brooklyn resident who came to the US from India in 1982, said the situation has changed much since then.
<b>"The country believes in racial equality and we should not face this in America," he told the New York Post.</b> <!--emo& --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>The family said it was shocked when they found that the school had denied admission to Nikita who scored a 79 in the admission test, when white students with lower scores were admitted and they were considering a possible legal remedy.</b>
Nikita as also her parents are US citizens.
<b>She was classified as minority and needed a score of 84.4 to be accepted but white students with score of 77 were admitted.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>VHP to build mass movement against SC status to Muslims-Christians</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Pravin Togadia said that working on recommendations from the Rangarajan Committee the UPA Government at the Centre was contemplating move to extend SC status to people of Muslim and Christain communities.
He said that under the prevailing constitutional provisions only Hindu dalits could be accorded this status but the government was adamant in extending the benefit to the above two non Hindu communities.
He said that if the government tried to do so and planned a constitutional amendment, then the VHP would oppose the move and would build a mass movement nationwide with active participation of SC population.
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07-11-2007, 05:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-11-2007, 08:49 AM by Husky.)
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Jun 22 2007, 04:47 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Jun 22 2007, 04:47 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Church pays 5% but wants 100% say </b>
Durgesh Nandan Jha | New Delhi
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->[right][snapback]70408[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->At intellibriefs where the above Pioneer news item was reproduced, there are two comments:
http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2007/06/...pays-5-but.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Ranvir Malhotra said... </b>
Please be corrected: <b>The Church DOES NOT pay anything to the College.</b> I know this from an ex-bursar of College who always lamented that unlike other trust colleges where trusts met 5 % of budget, the trust of College did not give even a bent nickel. <b>Moreover it is wrong to say that CNI bought the land etc. When College came into being or later shifted to prfesent site (in 1941) the CNI was not even in existence !!!</b>
July 06, 2007 10:20 PMÂ Â
<b>John Mathai said... </b>
It is important to remember that the issue is not about admission of Christian students but of creating another category of quota called "Dalit Christians" There is a case in the Supreme Court whther or not such a category can be a reservation category. Moreover, there is no viable way for certifying who is a Dalit Christian and who is a non-Dalit Charistian. If one looks at this closely one can realise that this new quota is merely a quota for bishops who will have the power to give dalit certifications. Thus it a programme for back door entry.
Also, there are two kinds of minority institutioins: those unaided and those that are aided. <b>St Stephen's is fully funded by the State. The Church does not give it even a paisa. Therefore it can have only those quotas that are sanctioned by the State.</b> Moreover this move will have serious repurcussions on the Christians themselves. So far in Christian colleges, as per law, minority seats are meant for ALL christians regardless of whether they are Catholics or Protestants or Baptists. Now, the door has been opened for a Catholic Christian College from having seats for Catholic only and keep protestants out and vice versa.
(Someone is worried their own kind won't be given free schooling anymore; as it will be in favour of other christos. Who said what goes around won't come around?)
July 07, 2007 9:08 AMÂ Â <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
'We are the world's biggest hypocrisy'
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Author Shiv Khera is angry with the Censor Board for "irrational and irrelevant" cuts in his documentary film, inspired by the AIIMS anti-quota stir
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Khera has been addressing students all across and he says even those belonging to backward classes are not in favour of this reservation. "The government is hell-bent on sowing the seeds of another partition. And all for votes. Now thereâs in-fighting in these classes too -- that weâre more backward than you! Itâs so ridiculous,'' he asserts.
Kheraâs 29-minute video has been advised three cuts, with the Board asking for proof for two claims made in the film. Talking about this, Khera says, "They want documentary evidence of some of the statements Iâve made. For example, thereâs one that says that in the 1984 riots, thousands of Sikhs got killed. Iâve gone on to ask whether their lives can be compensated with money? The Censor Board wants documentary proof of this! The others are equally ridiculous. This is the level of the people in the Censor Board. Iâm telling you -- weâre not the worldâs biggest democracy, but the worldâs biggest hypocrisy."
Ask him if the recent agitation for scheduled tribe status in Rajasthan has forced the Censor Board to take a rather strict view of the film and he says, "I donât think so. It had nothing to do with the agitation. There are some political appointees on the Board whoâve forced their warped viewpoint. There was only one bureaucrat there who made sense but the others didn't know what they were talking about," adds the exasperated Khera.
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<b>SC refuses to lift stay on OBC quotas</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused the Centre's plea seeking vacation of its interim order staying the implementation of 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes in elite educational institutions.
"We are not going to pass any interim order," a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Brahmin bandh in Jaipur for quota </b>
Pioneer.com
Lokpal Sethi | Jaipur
The Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha has given a call for Jaipur bandh on Wednesday in protest against the lathi-charge on chetavani rally, organised by the Mahasabha in the State capital on August 19. The rally was held to demand reservation for Brahmins.
Several other Brahmin organisations, including Akhil Bhartiya Brahmin Mahasabha and Rajasthan Brahmin Mahasabha have supported the bandh call. Rajput Karani Sena patron Lokender Singh Kalvi has appealed to the leaders of the upper caste organisations to support the bandh, which is aimed at pressing for reservation of these classes.
Talking to The Pioneer, Mahasabha president Suresh Mishra demanded that the <b>Government should remove all those who ordered lathi-charge on peaceful rallyists.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Quota Bill for apprentices in pvt sector to be introduced in Parliament </b>
New Delhi, Aug 30: A bill providing for quota for apprentices in the private sector is likely to be introduced in Parliament today.
"This is an apprentice bill. Here you are not giving any employment. Here is a training programme", Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes told a news agency when asked if the industry would welcome it after having shot down the idea of reservation in private sector.
Fernandes said the quota apprentice would be within the<b> 50 percent reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward castes. </b>
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Anger at minorities commission hearing
Special Correspondent
MUMBAI: Anger and frustration boiled over during the public hearing of the National Commission for Minorities on Wednesday, as the Muslim community voiced its anguish at the âbetrayalâ by the Congress government and the lack of political will to implement the Srikrishna Commissionâs report on the Mumbai riots of 1992-93.
People expressed their feelings of aggrievement and insecurity 14 years after the communal carnage in Mumbai. The hearing in the afternoon at the State government guest house took a noisy turn when peopleâs representatives tried to speak and articulate issues concerning the community.
Arif Naseem Khan, Congress MLA, bore the brunt of the anger and his speech was shouted down with cries of âdown with the Maharashtra government.â
Various individuals and NGOs said there was no need for an MLA to speak here and they had no faith in the elected representatives or the government. The proceedings were disrupted for a while as everyone protested against the Congress-NCP government which they said had done little to implement the Srikrishna Commissionâs report or punish the guilty.
Next in the line of fire was Maharashtra Minister of State for Labour Baba Siddiqui, who tried to calm down the angry gathering. He too had to stop speaking. Finally, the Commission said that only NGOs or individuals were required to speak. Some calm was restored after Dr. Zoya Hasan, member of the Commission, suggested that women speak for a while.
Absence of justice
The National Commission for Minorities headed by former Union Minister Mohammed Shafi Qureshi was hearing public representatives and NGOs on various issues concerning the minorities. It will meet the Maharashtra Chief Minister on Thursday. Though important issues such as education, lack of jobs and overall discrimination were raised, the most vital point was the complete lack of justice after the riots.
Speaker after speaker said the government, despite an election promise way back in 1999, failed to keep its word. Farid Batatawala, who has been campaigning for riot victims for 14 years, said that in the two major incidents during the riots â Suleiman Usman Bakery and Hari Masjid incidents â the government must punish the guilty policemen. Habib Fakir, educationist, said the government lacked the political will to implement the Srikrishna Commissionâs report.
Victimsâ woes
The Commission also heard depositions from the riot victims. Tariq Wagle narrated how his son Shahnawaz, who was 16 in 1993, was shot dead by the police in front of him. Till now, the policemen involved had not been punished, Mr. Wagle said. He had named all the people involved, but they had been promoted, he said.
Farooq Mapkar, who was injured in the Hari Masjid firing, said that he was a victim but the police had charged him with murder. Till today, no case had been filed against the policemen but he was facing trial.
Nirbhay Bano Andolan and several other groups demanded the dismissal of policemen involved in the Mumbai riots. Hasina Sheikh from Awaz-e-Niswan, said that people did not come forward and register complaints as they feared the police. The government must open the over 1300 cases which had been closed, she said.
Dr. Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Professor of Islamic studies, said that, âas an Indian, it is a big shame that I have to come here and ask for justice when the Indian Constitution does not discriminate.â
Women also complained about the way the police harassed their sons and husbands. Khatoon Sheikh from the group Hukook-e-Niswan, said that there was a lot of fear and the government must ensure their security.
NGOs also made the point that ensuring justice was not the responsibility of Muslims alone. The entire society must participate in demanding it. Saumya Uma from Womenâs Research and Action Group said that when the State government decided to implement the Srikrishna Commissionâs report, the Shiv Sena said it would cause problems. Why did the State not act against the Senaâs threats and punish politicians inciting the people, she asked.
There was also scepticism about the outcome of the hearing. This is the fifth National Commission for Minorities and this is the first time it is visiting various places and assessing the problems for itself. It has already submitted a detailed report on internal displacement after the Gujarat riots.
A member clarified that it was not an executive body, but it could add its voice to the voices of the people.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>70% SC-ST children don't pass Class 10 </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The Government's OBC reservation policy under scrutiny of the Supreme Court got a jolt on Tuesday after the anti-quota petitioners produced official reports to indicate that for six decades over 70 per cent children among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes do not reach Class X.
Mocking at the Government's move to accommodate socially and educationally-backward classes in IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, and other premier central institutions, senior advocate PP Rao, arguing for one of the petitioners stated before a Constitution Bench that without fulfilling the constitutional obligation of Right to Education to each backward child, how could the Government think about their reservation in higher educational institutions.
The court through past decisions had held that a person could be considered educationally backward if he does not possess a basic education till Class X. Arguing against the unreasonable demand of the Centre to create 27 per cent for OBC in premier central institutions, Rao told the court that such a law, instead of bridging the gap has the potential to widen the existing disparities.
He said, <b>"The state's failure to provide free and compulsory education at least to the children of backward classes, SCs and STs for six decades and the high rate of dropouts among them in Class I to X leads to the irresistible conclusion that the State is concerned more about the haves among the backward classes rather than the have-nots."</b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Why are castes being added to OBC list?: SC </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the rate at which castes were increasingly getting listed as backward classes for reservations in jobs and educational institutions without an outer limit estimating their strength.
Pressed for a solution, a Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan said, "Is there a list of total number of castes?" Justice RV Raveendran forming the Bench with the Chief Justice of India remarked, <b>"It is strange that without an outer limit we are adding on more castes in the list".</b>
The judge's remark came in response to senior advocate KK Venugopal's submission that "the policy of reservation is intended for obtaining votes at the elections." Arguing for the anti-quota petitioners before the Bench examining the Constitutional validity of the Central Educational Institution (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, Venugopal gave the example of recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. He said the Bahujan Samaj Party came to power with 206 seats with a mere difference of four per cent of votes as against its nearest rival Samajwadi Party.
The senior advocate said, "India is shining but backwardness is increasing rapidly with the increased number of backward castes bearing elections in mind."
Venugopal said <b>in Tamil Nadu that before every election there was an addition of one or two castes in the list of backward class to secure vote of a particular caste en bloc. Substantiating his arguments, he said the Muslims in the country constitute 11 per cent of the population and if they vote en bloc for a political party it would win.</b>
Castes have to be totally excluded and it cannot be a factor for identifying the backwardness, he said. Senior advocate K Parasaran appearing for the Centre retaliated suggesting that the people of upper castes have misinterpreted caste system over the years. The Bench quipped, <b>"You have created the problem. It is up to you (Centre) to find the solution." The senior advocate stated that the number of castes in the list have risen from 1,373 in 1950 to 5,013 by July 2006.</b>
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