12-15-2006, 01:34 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Education quota Bill passed in LS </b> <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
BJP amendment to bring minority institutions under ambit rejected
A controversial bill that seeks 27 per cent of seats for students of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Central higher education institutions in the country was passed unanimously in the Lok Sabha Thursday after the House rejected Opposition BJP's amendment to bring minority run institutions also under its ambit.
Union HRD Minister <b>Arjun Singh, however, tried to explain away the exclusion of the minority-run education institutions from its purview by saying that they had already been admitting dalits and weaker sections and there was no reason to believe they would not do so in future.</b>
The explanation evoked furious protests from the Opposition BJP Members led by BJP Deputy Leader VK Malhotra, who asked why minority-run educational institutions were being absolved of the onus of accommodating the Dalits and the OBCs.
The Bill, officially known as Central Education Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006, is considered to be a path-breaking one for the OBCs who comprise nearly 50 per cent of the country's population.
Although a parliamentary standing committee has recommended the creamy layer of the OBCs should be exempted from the quota, the Government decided to include them in the Bill. The committee was of the view that only if OBC seats remain vacant, should the creamy layer be allowed to take them.
However, major allies of the Congress in the ruling UPA were against that idea.
While the Bill extended reservation to all the OBCs listed by the Mandal Commission, it has exempted minority-run institutions from its purview.
The Congress-led Government's decision to bring the legislation had created major controversy as medical students vehemently opposed the Bill. They held prolonged demonstrations, severely affecting health services in government-run hospitals, including the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the national Capital, to protest the move.
The nation-wide protests that lasted more than two weeks forced the Government to work out a compromise that while seats in the general category would remain unaffected, the quota implementation would be done in a staggered manner and faculty and infrastructure enhanced accordingly.
The Oversight Committee headed by senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily has prepared a roadmap for quota implementation. According to the Oversight Committee, the cost of implementation of affirmative action in support of such disadvantaged sections of society is calculated to be over Rs 90 billion.
During the discussions in the Lok Sabha, all political parties cutting across party lines, supported the Bill. However, the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brought an amendment to bring in the minority-run institutions also in the ambit of the bill. The amendment was rejected by the Government.
Another demand made by the BJP to exclude certain castes, which according to them have progressed after the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations, also was not considered.
The<b> ruling Congress party and some of its allies wanted reservation for Muslims also. </b>Quoting the recently published Rajinder Sachar committee report on socio-educational and educational status of the Muslims, they argued that the minority community's condition was worse than that of Scheduled Castes and Tribes and even OBCs.
<b>The bill was passed by voice vote. </b>It is likely to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha before the Winter Session of Parliament ends on Dec 19.
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Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
BJP amendment to bring minority institutions under ambit rejected
A controversial bill that seeks 27 per cent of seats for students of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Central higher education institutions in the country was passed unanimously in the Lok Sabha Thursday after the House rejected Opposition BJP's amendment to bring minority run institutions also under its ambit.
Union HRD Minister <b>Arjun Singh, however, tried to explain away the exclusion of the minority-run education institutions from its purview by saying that they had already been admitting dalits and weaker sections and there was no reason to believe they would not do so in future.</b>
The explanation evoked furious protests from the Opposition BJP Members led by BJP Deputy Leader VK Malhotra, who asked why minority-run educational institutions were being absolved of the onus of accommodating the Dalits and the OBCs.
The Bill, officially known as Central Education Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006, is considered to be a path-breaking one for the OBCs who comprise nearly 50 per cent of the country's population.
Although a parliamentary standing committee has recommended the creamy layer of the OBCs should be exempted from the quota, the Government decided to include them in the Bill. The committee was of the view that only if OBC seats remain vacant, should the creamy layer be allowed to take them.
However, major allies of the Congress in the ruling UPA were against that idea.
While the Bill extended reservation to all the OBCs listed by the Mandal Commission, it has exempted minority-run institutions from its purview.
The Congress-led Government's decision to bring the legislation had created major controversy as medical students vehemently opposed the Bill. They held prolonged demonstrations, severely affecting health services in government-run hospitals, including the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the national Capital, to protest the move.
The nation-wide protests that lasted more than two weeks forced the Government to work out a compromise that while seats in the general category would remain unaffected, the quota implementation would be done in a staggered manner and faculty and infrastructure enhanced accordingly.
The Oversight Committee headed by senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily has prepared a roadmap for quota implementation. According to the Oversight Committee, the cost of implementation of affirmative action in support of such disadvantaged sections of society is calculated to be over Rs 90 billion.
During the discussions in the Lok Sabha, all political parties cutting across party lines, supported the Bill. However, the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brought an amendment to bring in the minority-run institutions also in the ambit of the bill. The amendment was rejected by the Government.
Another demand made by the BJP to exclude certain castes, which according to them have progressed after the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations, also was not considered.
The<b> ruling Congress party and some of its allies wanted reservation for Muslims also. </b>Quoting the recently published Rajinder Sachar committee report on socio-educational and educational status of the Muslims, they argued that the minority community's condition was worse than that of Scheduled Castes and Tribes and even OBCs.
<b>The bill was passed by voice vote. </b>It is likely to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha before the Winter Session of Parliament ends on Dec 19.
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