04-23-2007, 09:43 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>No quota for now </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
IIMs must ignore Ministry order
It speaks volumes about the intentions of the UPA Government, especially those of the Human Resource Development Ministry headed by a 10 Janpath courtier whose sole priority is to wreck educational institutions in India, that despite the Supreme Court refusing to vacate the stay on 27 per cent OBC quota, it has refrained from immediately withdrawing the order asking Indian Institutes of Management not to proceed with admissions for the 2007-08 academic year. The IIMs, whose brand equity depends on attracting the best among those aspiring for post-graduate studies in management, had initiated the admission process when the Supreme Court stayed the absurd 27 per cent quota for OBCs in all institutions of higher education funded by the Centre. Common sense suggests that the IIMs should have been allowed to continue with the admission process without the OBC quota till the issue was settled by the Supreme Court, which could take anything between months to more than a year. But with its eyes firmly fixed on the OBC voters in Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress is desperately seeking to hold on to its previous abysmal performance, the HRD Ministry instructed the IIMs to keep the admission process in abeyance. That this gross misuse of authority could result in IIMs losing the cream of the applicants to other institutions and, more important, it would jeopardise the careers of hundreds of students, appears to have been ignored by the Minister and his advisers, most of them bureaucrats eager to please their political master irrespective of the cost to the nation. Hopefully, in view of Monday's order by the Supreme Court and its assertion that the quota will not be applicable for the 2007-08 academic year, the IIMs will do that which is legally correct and morally right - ignore the Minister and his babus.
Three points merit reiteration in the light of the Supreme Court's observations on Monday.<b> First, the Government's haste to impose the OBC quota without factoring in the consequences was, and remains, unseemly. As the court has observed, if treacly concern for the OBC welfare could wait for 57 years, it can wait for another year. Second, the court has zeroed in on the clause in the relevant law which allows the Government discretion to exempt certain educational institutions from introducing the OBC quota. There is no reason why such discretion should be vested only in the executive and not the judiciary. Nor is there any reason why a distinction should be made between some and others. Third, the Government's continued insistence on not excluding the creamy layer from the largesse being doled out in the guise of empowering the socially and educationally backward classes defies logic, if at all there is any logic to setting aside seats for OBCs</b>. The court has justifiably snubbed the Government's contention that the stay militates against the Supreme Court's judgement on the implementation of the Mandal Commission report; in that order, the creamy layer was excluded. In any event, the real issue at stake is about equality as guaranteed by the Constitution. This is best exemplified by senior counsel Harish Salve's argument that the 27 per cent OBC quota is a gross violation of the Constitution which prohibits discrimination among citizens on grounds of race, caste, religion, sex and other considerations. By insisting on having its way on the bogus OBC quota, the UPA Government is seeking to undermine the Constitution of India. Though not for the first time.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
IIMs must ignore Ministry order
It speaks volumes about the intentions of the UPA Government, especially those of the Human Resource Development Ministry headed by a 10 Janpath courtier whose sole priority is to wreck educational institutions in India, that despite the Supreme Court refusing to vacate the stay on 27 per cent OBC quota, it has refrained from immediately withdrawing the order asking Indian Institutes of Management not to proceed with admissions for the 2007-08 academic year. The IIMs, whose brand equity depends on attracting the best among those aspiring for post-graduate studies in management, had initiated the admission process when the Supreme Court stayed the absurd 27 per cent quota for OBCs in all institutions of higher education funded by the Centre. Common sense suggests that the IIMs should have been allowed to continue with the admission process without the OBC quota till the issue was settled by the Supreme Court, which could take anything between months to more than a year. But with its eyes firmly fixed on the OBC voters in Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress is desperately seeking to hold on to its previous abysmal performance, the HRD Ministry instructed the IIMs to keep the admission process in abeyance. That this gross misuse of authority could result in IIMs losing the cream of the applicants to other institutions and, more important, it would jeopardise the careers of hundreds of students, appears to have been ignored by the Minister and his advisers, most of them bureaucrats eager to please their political master irrespective of the cost to the nation. Hopefully, in view of Monday's order by the Supreme Court and its assertion that the quota will not be applicable for the 2007-08 academic year, the IIMs will do that which is legally correct and morally right - ignore the Minister and his babus.
Three points merit reiteration in the light of the Supreme Court's observations on Monday.<b> First, the Government's haste to impose the OBC quota without factoring in the consequences was, and remains, unseemly. As the court has observed, if treacly concern for the OBC welfare could wait for 57 years, it can wait for another year. Second, the court has zeroed in on the clause in the relevant law which allows the Government discretion to exempt certain educational institutions from introducing the OBC quota. There is no reason why such discretion should be vested only in the executive and not the judiciary. Nor is there any reason why a distinction should be made between some and others. Third, the Government's continued insistence on not excluding the creamy layer from the largesse being doled out in the guise of empowering the socially and educationally backward classes defies logic, if at all there is any logic to setting aside seats for OBCs</b>. The court has justifiably snubbed the Government's contention that the stay militates against the Supreme Court's judgement on the implementation of the Mandal Commission report; in that order, the creamy layer was excluded. In any event, the real issue at stake is about equality as guaranteed by the Constitution. This is best exemplified by senior counsel Harish Salve's argument that the 27 per cent OBC quota is a gross violation of the Constitution which prohibits discrimination among citizens on grounds of race, caste, religion, sex and other considerations. By insisting on having its way on the bogus OBC quota, the UPA Government is seeking to undermine the Constitution of India. Though not for the first time.
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