Condemning discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion and caste, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief said there was need for a strong political will to end the caste system which was making the country weak from within.
Several other speakers also expressed anguish over "low representation" of marginalized sections in India's private sector.
Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal in his keynote address said he was "distressed" by low representation of Dalits and minorities, particularly Muslims, in the public and private sectors.
Introducing a law to provide for reservation in the private sector would be an important step in context of the "increasingly shrinking role" of the public sector, he said.
http://www.indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/inde...d=1§ionid=4
US should work with India to solve Dalit problems: lawmaker
Washington (PTI): A top democratic lawmaker has asked the United States to work with India to find "new approaches" to solve the problems of the Dalits in the country.
In a resolution introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman from Pennsylvania Robert Brady, it has been pointed out that more than 160 million in India are considered untouchable and dehumanised by the caste system and that most of the "untouchables" are among the poorest people in the world, living on less than USD 1 per day.
"They live in constant fear of being "publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place."
"...(the) caste-based discrimination is institutionalised throughout India and that its corrosive influence on the Indian people must be effectively addressed," the resolution says.
It also recognises the caste system's debilitating influence on the daily lives of millions in India "and encourages the United States to work with India to find new approaches to this age-old problem."
<!--QuoteBegin-acharya+Jul 18 2008, 11:45 AM-->QUOTE(acharya @ Jul 18 2008, 11:45 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->US should work with India to solve Dalit problems: lawmaker
Washington (PTI): A top democratic lawmaker has asked the United States to work with India to find "new approaches" to solve the problems of the Dalits in the country.
"...(the) caste-based discrimination is institutionalised throughout India and that its corrosive influence on the Indian people must be effectively addressed," the resolution says.
It also recognises the caste system's debilitating influence on the daily lives of millions in India "and encourages the United States to work with India to find new approaches to this age-old problem."
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Source?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>No takers for OBC quota </b>
Pioneer.com
Anuradha Dutt
Even after third cut-off list, colleges have vacancies
The Congress-led UPA coalition's plan to encash 27 per cent OBC quota in centrally-funded higher educational institutions is bound to fail as colleges in Delhi report that there are few takers for the reserved seats. This pre-election ploy to woo the OBC vote-bank by enforcing reservations in the elitist IIMs, IITs, medical colleges and other institutes, funded by the Centre, seems to have come a cropper with a large number of seats staying empty. Many colleges in Delhi, despite giving the maximum relaxation of 10 per cent in marks, have found the response by the targeted section quite poor. Successive cutoff lists and lowering the eligibility marks have done little. This serves to render the concession infructuous. Unfortunately, there is no provision to extend the vacant seats to general category candidates. These, therefore, go waste.
<b>The authorities ascribe their inability to fill up the vacancies for two reasons. One, many quota applicants do not figure on the Centre's OBC list; and two, many whose names are on the merit list prefer to enter via general category, possibly because it is not demeaning. One might add a third reason which is universally applicable to all economically deprived people. Irrespective of the caste, studies show that less than 10 per cent of India's youth actually go to college. This claim is believable considering that about 20 per cent of children never finish school</b>. A huge number boasts of being Xth fail. Thus, the Government would be better advised to ensure universal secondary education before trying to lure voters with reservations in higher education.
Livelihood needs are behind the acutely high school dropout rate. By dangling the bait of admission into the IITs, IIMs and English-dominated colleges, the ruling regime is offering the intended beneficiaries cakes when all they really seem to want is bread. The colossal failure to address basic economic problems and to enforce even primary education for all children in the country ensures that the educational quotas for OBCs, as well as SCs/STs, can never be filled up. Unless, of course, the Human Resource Development Ministry, in its dubious wisdom, is planning to catapult Vth pass and Xth fail students into a portal of higher learning and specialisation on special grounds. It is not implausible that the State legislatures and the Parliament have members who are anti-national, semi-literate, adventurers and criminals.
<b>To revert to the OBC quota, reports emanating from Delhi colleges are edifying. Some instances may be cited. Dr Inderjeet, Principal of College of Vocational Studies, stated in a press report dated July 13 that despite increasing OBC relaxations in every consecutive cut-off list, the college had failed to fill up all the reserved seats. As per a newspaper report, dated July 3, Sri Venkateswara College had only six admissions against 60 seats in humanities courses. Another daily reported on July 9 that most colleges, though having closed admissions for the general category to a majority of subjects after the third cut-off list, intended to declare a fourth admission list for OBC students as their seats lay vacant. Indraprastha College for Women had recorded 15 admissions against 70 OBC seats; Hans Raj had admitted 35 students against 90 seats; Gargi College had 50 admissions against 108 seats; Dayal Singh College (morning) Principal Inder Bakshi also cited a dearth of applicants for the reserved berths.</b>
In these circumstances, it is shocking not to pass on the vacancies to deserving general category students. The HRD ministry must urgently review the whole reservations exercise and the quantum of seats that should be set aside for OBCs and for SCs/STs on the basis of the data on the actual number of seats filled. Incidentally, the marks relaxation for SCs/STs is 40 per cent. The parameters used by the Mandal Commission to list OBCs also need to be reviewed, with complaints pouring in of some segments having been excluded and others unfairly included.
The most objectionable feature of affirmative action that hinges on quotas in education and jobs is that policy-makers are using the lowest common denominator as the benchmark for setting aspirational goals for young Indians. This effectively ensures that the country will never rise above the mediocre, at best, and plummet to the nadir, at worst. The additional danger is that politicos will increasingly view economic ills through the caste prism-a provocative and unreliable index of social conditions-and devise remedies accordingly. This is a sure formula for fragmentation of society, and turning the clock back.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>SC cheer for non-quota aspirants </b>
Pioneer.com
Abraham Thomas | New Delhi
'Unutilised seats under OBC quota should go to general students'
The IIT and IIM aspirants can heave a sigh of relief. The Supreme Court on <b>Monday said seats remaining unfilled under the 27 per cent OBC quota must go to general category candidates</b>.Â
Responding to separate petitions filed by the Pan-IIM Association, an NGO, and former IIT-Chennai director PV Indresan, a five-judge Bench said that its judgment okaying 27 per cent OBC reservation in Central educational institutions on April 10 this year clearly said that vacant seats under the OBC quota must go to the non-reserved category.
The petitioners, represented by senior advocate KK Venugopal,<b> alleged that 432 seats under the quota were lying vacant, with the Central Government refusing to permit general category students to use these. </b>The petitioners accused the Centre of keeping vacant seats unfilled under the 27 per cent quota norm, violating the apex court's ruling of April 10.
<b>"It is a national waste.</b> Justices Arijit Pasayat, CK Thakker and Dalveer Bhandari of the five-judge Bench held <b>that there cannot be any vacancy; it has to be reverted to the general category,"</b> Venugopal said, adding<b>, "Reservation was not intended for the purpose that if they are not there, it would not be available to others.</b>
Justice Pasayat said, <b>"We have said it (vacant seats in reserved category) should go to the non-reserved category in case there are not enough reserved candidates."</b> Seconding the observation, Justice Thakker said,<b> "It's not in the larger interest of the nation to keep seats vacant." </b>The third to follow suit was Justice Bhandari, who responded, "Where is the confusion? There is no confusion."
The judges stated that the intention of passing the order was to ensure that additional seats were made available to the maximum number of students. "The position is very clear. Our intention was not to leave anything vacant. Fill them up... if not by reserved category, then by non-reserved category."
Solicitor General GE Vahanvati, representing the Centre, sought time to verify the claims of the petitioner. He informed the Bench that details regarding the vacancy, if any, would be checked and intimated to the court within two weeks. The Bench, also comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishhnan and Justice RV Raveendran, also asked the Solicitor General to respond on the aspect of fixation of cut-off marks for OBC candidates. This formed the other point of clarification sought by the petitioners.
On April 10, the apex court had said in a majority decision that cut-off marks for OBCs should be such that merit was not compromised. While Justices Pasayat and Thakker held that the cut-off be fixed at five marks below the general category cut-off, Justice Bhandari held this mark to be not less than 10 marks. Venugopal wanted to know which should be the acceptable standard.
In response, Justice Bhandari said, "Both these are intended so that they (Centre) do not deviate from merit." For this reason, Justice Pasayat held, they used the words "it is desirable"; if a general category candidate gets entry at 50 marks, the reserved category candidate should not enter at as low as 25. "We hope the Government bears it in mind," he added.
Vahanvati submitted that the Centre had not gone beyond that rule. Posting the matter for hearing on September 29, the court asked the Centre to file a response by then.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Centre raises OBC creamy layer criteria to Rs 4.5 lakhs</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->With elections to the Lok Sabha and some state Assemblies round the corner,<b> the government raised the income ceiling for creamy layer from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh annually in a move that will cover more Other Backward Classes under the reservation criteria.</b>
  Â
The Cabinet decision would be communicated to the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Department of Personnel and Training for issuance of appropriate orders to central educational institutions and government departments for pursuance of the order.
  Â
"The Union cabinet today gave its approval for revising the income criteria for creamy layer from the present Rs 2.5 lakhs per annum to Rs 4.5 lakhs per annum," Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said in New Delhi<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Any idiot in India gets up and change defination. Hitler raj of India is disgusting beyond words.
Yet another victory to Hindu Organisations- Govt. to deny Muslims, Christians SC status
09/10/2008 14:54:26
Govt looks to ensure Muslims, Christians don't get into SC list
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Govt_to...how/3575726.cms
NEW DELHI: The proposal to give Scheduled Caste status to a child with either parents as Dalit has taken a curious turn, with the Centre making changes to ensure that it does not give a backdoor entry to Christians and Muslims into the SC list which is restricted to Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists.
Social justice ministry has revived the proposal by which it plans to make a child eligible for SC status if either the mother or father are SC. It seeks to undo a Supreme Court ruling that caste in Indian context flows from the father, clarifying that child of a non-Dalit father cannot be a Dalit.
After hanging fire for over two years, during which it attracted opposition from different quarters including National Commission for SCs, the ministry has modified the proposal with a small twist of real consequence.
The earlier draft merely said "the child born of inter-caste marriage shall be taken as belonging to SC if either of the parents belong to that community". It has now been modified to include that "if either of the parent belong to such a caste (SC) and the other parent belongs to neither SC nor ST but professes one of the religions which a person belonging to SC may profess".
The fresh move means that SC status to children from mixed parentage would require the non-Dalit parent to be either Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh. Only the followers of these three faiths are eligible for SC status.
The change, sources said, is to accommodate concerns over the proposal. It was feared that if SC status was made available to a child from mixed parentage, it could undo the religion barrier put on being a Dalit. While Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam have been demanding that SC category be extended to them, the Centre has found it too sensitive to handle. It was feared that Hindutva outfits would oppose the move as they have been arguing that making Dalit status religion-neutral would encourage conversions.
If a child with either parent as Dalit was given SC status without a bar of religion, it would be tantamount to encouraging the same, it was argued. The sensitivity of Dalit status for converts can be gauged from the fact that UPA government has it on the backburner after having set up Rangnath Mishra commission to examine it and having got a favourable recommendation.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Now, âbackwardâ pupils in IIT seek extra tuition</b>
Abraham Thomas | New Delhi
The Centre is beginning to feel the pinch of its policy on reservations. Having added 27 per cent OBC quota to the list of those receiving reservation benefits previously available only to SC/ST students in central educational institutions including the IITs and IIMs, there is now a demand from reserved category students for extra coaching to ensure they become as competent as their general category counterparts.
<b>Six students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi who were ousted for their poor academic record in the first year of studies, have challenged the instituteâs decision demanding that owing to their background tag, the IIT must take responsibility to provide them additional facility by way of extra classes and coaching to make them capable of keeping abreast with the high quality of academic teaching.</b> <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
This plea forms part of a petition filed by the expelled students before the Supreme Court. A Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan has issued notice to the Union Ministry for Human Resources Development and IIT Delhi seeking their response to the same.
It was by a communication dated May 21 this year that the admission of the six first-year students of B Tech course in IIT-D stood cancelled. A subsequent order by the IIT Registrar on June 2 declared the students be struck off the rolls of the institute.
<b>According to the institute rules, a general category student is required to earn a minimum of 20 credits in the first year for promotion to the next year.
For a reserved category student, this threshold is 16. If a student fails to obtain the requisite credits, he is expelled from the institute. As the candidate progresses in the course, the qualification criteria get stricter as in the second year the benchmark is set at 50 credits for general category students and 46 for reserved category students.</b>
It was the case of the institute that the students failed to obtain the requisite marks as a result of which they were expelled. But the petitioner students do not want to call it quits yet. In a petition filed through advocate DK Garg, the students cited the practice followed in IITs other than Delhi, <b>which entitles a weak student to continue under a "Slow Track Programme," a provision for students who fail to clear subjects in first and second year to continue with the course without being expelled.</b>
Delhi IIT does not provide this arrangement, which is now being challenged by the students as an arbitrary measure by the institute to deprive reserved category students of reservation benefits.
Questioning the lack of any similar scheme in the Delhi wing, the petitioners argued,<b> "What is the use of providing reservation in higher education when no facility is provided to SC/ST/OBC candidates to enable them to compete with other general category students?"</b>
This has sparked a debate among students on whether or not merit should be compromised to such an extent that reserved category students continue to enjoy benefits of their backward tag, sacrificing academic excellence in the name of affirmative action.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>'Reservation for OBCs in private institutes to be looked into'</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | New Delhi
Government will "look into" the issue of reservation for OBCs in private unaided educational institutions.
"We will look into it," HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said to a question whether there would be reservation for OBCs in private and unaided educational institutions.
The government has implemented 27 per cent seats for OBCs in Central Educational Institutions. Most of these institutions are implementing the quota in a staggering manner.
The government has allocated additional funds towards enhancing infrastructure for increasing the seats to implement the OBC quota.
To another question on educational institutions facing difficulties in implementing the OBC quota, Sibal said that "all new policies have teething problems. We will look into all those things".
The 27 per cent quota in CEI has been implemented since 2007. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Destroy private industry for votes.
I hope they give 27% tax exemption to private insitution who follows these discrimination.
HYDERABAD: Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily has said that the concept of creamy layer cannot be applied in politics.
Responding to a question on the High Court staying the GHMC elections for not following creamy layer in BC reservations, Mr. Moily at a press conference here on Sunday felt that it was difficult to implement this in politics. âCreamy layer cannot be applied in politics,â he said, adding many States were not implementing it.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/10/stories/...290100.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Readmit failed quota students: SC to IIT</b>
pioneer.com
Abraham Thomas | New Delhi
If quota can win you admission, it can keep you from being expelled too. Sending out this controversial message to all premier educational institutions, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi to reconsider the expulsion of six Scheduled Caste students despite securing low grades.
Putting the onus of making the reserved category students at par with the general category students in the institute, the Bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan said, âThese socially and economically backward categories are to be taken care of at every stage even in the specialised institutions like IITs. They (institute) must make all endeavours by providing additional coaching and bring them at par with general category students.â
With the decision, even as the reserved candidates will continue to stay put in the institution despite low grades, their meritorious counterparts from general category could be shown the door for failing to meet the standards.
The decision has come as a big setback to the premier educational institutions. Apart from bearing the burden of reservation by admitting students under quota, they would now have to ensure that the students are equipped to pass in every semester.
The IIT-Delhi, which staunchly defended its decision argued before the apex court that reserved category students are at the receiving end of several benefits when it comes to grant of credits. At the end of first year, while general category students have to earn 20 credits, a reserved student should earn 16. Again at the end of second year and subsequent years, the difference of credits to be earned gets wider with a general category students earning 50 credits while SC/ST/OBC candidate only 46 credits.
In the particular case of the six students, the institute pointed out that the results of the students were being monitored from the first year and after the first signs of deterioration became visible, the studentsâ parents were informed. It was only after the results failed to pick up after the second semester results that the Standing Review Committee of the institute decided to expel them.
Following their expulsion in May-June 2008 for failing in the tests,<b> the students blamed the IIT for not providing them adequate coaching classes, the expelled candidates laid the blame on the institute for discriminating against them by denying them summer classes to improve their grades and match the general category students.</b>
Justice Sathasivam, who wrote the judgement for the Bench, found sufficient reasons to agree with the students. It said, âIn IIT-Delhi there is no Slow Track Programme for the students who failed to achieve the required credits in the first and second year. â Again, it held, <b>âIn all the IITs except Delhi, the students are allowed to take up summer courses or examinations for making up any shortfall in their average credits.â</b>
In this backdrop, <b>the court found no ground to uphold the expulsion order and instead asked the institute to give one more opportunity to the candidates.</b> Without expressing so in clear terms, the Bench said, âWe direct IIT to consider their case afresh in the light of the various aspects mentioned above and in view of the peculiar facts, reappraise their performance taking note of special features available or applicable to these reserved categoriesâ¦.â <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Just pass them and appoint them Chairman of Air India, then GOI will bailout Air India and they will also appoint 7 people to help one Chairman of Air India.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Migrant SC, STs, OBCs not entitled to reservation benefits: SC</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | New Delhi
SCs, STs and OBCs can not claim the benefits of reservation if they migrate from one State to another if the caste/tribe to which they belong are not recognized as a reserved community in the adopted State, the Supreme Court has ruled.
<b>Further, a migrant SC or ST also cannot claim a reserved status in OBC quota in another State, the apex court said.
</b>
"Persons belonging to a particular caste or tribe may suffer disadvantages in one State but may not suffer the same disadvantages in the other. Our Constitutional scheme, therefore, seeks to identify the social and economic backwardness of people having regard to the State or Union Territory as a unit.
"The same principle applies to even minorities as has been laid down by an eleven-judge bench of this court in TMA Pai Foundation and others case," a bench of Justices SB Sinha and Cyriac Joseph observed.
<b>The apex court made the remarks while dismissing the by certain migrant SC, STs candidates challenging the refusal of the Delhi administration to grant them benefits of reservation in Government jobs</b>.
The apex court also rejected the arguments of the petitioners Sarv Rural and Urban Welfare Society that the migrant SC/ ST candidates should be alternatively accommodated under the quota reserved for OBCs.
<b>"We are unable to accept the contention that the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes notified as such in other States would come within the purview of the backward classes within the meaning of clause (4) of Article 16 of the Constitution,</b>" the bench
observed. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sikhs are not minority in Punjab but they still are entitled for reservation in Punjab.
Govt plans three universities for minorities
IANS 13 September 2009, 01:01pm IST
NEW DELHI: After allocating Rs. 25 crore (Rs.250 million) for two more campuses of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), the government is planning
to set up three more universities for the country's minorities, according to officials.
"Three universities primarily for the students of minority communities will be set up with a view to providing them better higher education," a senior official of the minority affairs ministry told IANS, requesting anonymity since he is not authorised to speak to the media.
These universities will be set up in Mysore (Karnataka), Kishanganj (Bihar) and Ajmer (Rajasthan).
According to the official, "Fifty percent of the seats in these universities will be reserved for minority students to make them more competitive in the job market."
To be set up on land owned by Waqf boards, these universities will provide education in all modern subjects along with theological teaching.
However, officials said the biggest problem in establishing such universities will be to overcome the legal hurdles for providing 50 percent reservation for students from minority communities.
"Our effort is to find a solution according to constitutional provisions so that the proposal doesn't get stuck in legalities as it happened in the case of AMU."
In a 1968 lawsuit, the Supreme Court of India scrapped the minority status of the AMU. Then prime minister Indira Gandhi restored the AMU's minority status through legislation in 1981.
But in 2006, a division bench of the Allahabad High Court struck down the provision of the AMU Amendment Act, 1981. It rejected the central government's plea for restoring the minority status of the AMU and scrapped 50 percent reservation for Muslim students.
This was challenged by the centre in the apex court, which is yet to take a decision on the matter.
Minority affairs ministry officials said the government was trying to work out a new model to overcome such legal hurdles.
According to this model, the "land for these universities will be given by the Waqf board and the government will set up a university on it. Since these universities will be for the minorities, reservation for 50 percent minority students will be justified".
The draft has been prepared and will be sent to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/in...how/5005628.cms
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Did Mandal mislead us?</b>
pioneer.com
Anuradha Dutt
<b>OBCs are only 38.5% of the countryâs population</b>
Union Law Minister Veerappa Moilyâs proposal that caste be enumerated in the national census, slated for 2011, comes in the wake of a Rural Development Ministryâs BPL survey that estimates other backward classes as comprising 38.5 per cent of the rural population.<b> The figure is far below the Mandal Commission reportâs estimate of 52 per cent.</b> <b>The ministryâs finding appears to tally with National Sample Survey Organisationâs estimate of OBC numbers at about 35 per </b>cent. The disclosure comes as a blow to OBC leaders, who since August 1990, when the <b>Mandal report was implemented by the VP Singh Government, have been relentlessly lobbying for hiking concessions and privileges for members of their communities on the premise that OBCs comprise at least 50 per cent of the population. Their argument is that numerically fewer upper castes need to cede ground to them in the power hierarchy. They need to wield influence in proportion to their population.</b>
The move to realign the power structure in their favour via substantial reservations in Government jobs and higher educational institutions occurred when the Mandal Commission report was implemented, with the Supreme Court fixing the ceiling on reservations â for scheduled castes and tribes as well as OBCs â at 50 per cent. The OBC share was 27 per cent, over-shadowing the 22.5 per cent fixed in the Constitution for SCs and STs, considered by critics of the initiative to be more truly deserving of concessions than OBCs. For, the latter, as livestock and land-owning communities, rich farmers and dairy owners, cannot really be classified as the dispossessed, though they are not categorised among the three twice-born or upper castes, defined by Manusmriti. The most backward class, whose land holdings are meagre, are distinct from OBCs. Historically, SCs and STs, as landless labourers and daily wagers, have had to suffer oppression by OBCs on account of the latterâs position as landlords and employers.
The change in reservations policy fuelled the ambitions of OBC chieftains, whose rise was synchronous with the advent of coalition politics. It gave them leverage in bargaining for power and privileges. Not content with the apex court ruling, they have been persistently trying to extract further concessions from policy-makers, usually citing their numerical strength. The influential OBC lobby in Tamil Nadu is reported to dictate educational and development policies. Quota politics, at the cost of merit, has led to the premier centrally-funded Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management and medical colleges being placed on the anvil of reservations. Mr Arjun Singh, the previous Human Resource Development Minister, enforced 27 per cent reservations for OBCs in these institutions. The move for quotas among faculty triggered protests by teaching staff as this would inevitably lead to an irreversible lowering of standards. Their reasoning was simple: One can either pursue excellence or nurture mediocrity or worse. Premier institutes are so considered because their teaching standards are in consonance with the best in the world.
Now, the Rural Ministry survey of the OBC population reduces the earlier estimates of numbers considerably. Assuming the findings to be accurate, the OBC lobbyâs argument that they deserve precedence in admissions to premier higher education institutes and coveted Government jobs because their numbers constitute over half of Indiaâs population no longer stands.<b> The survey places OBCs at 37 per cent in Bihar, described as the Mandal powerhouse. In Haryana and Punjab, where they dominate the economy and politics, the percentage of OBCs is 28.2 per cent and 20.6 per cent. If one were to apply the principle of proportional representation, deployed by BP Mandal and his ilk, then quotas for OBCs need to be sharply reduced in light of the 38 per cent figure given by the survey, and the 35 per cent estimate projected by the NSSO.</b>
A caste-based census may serve to resolve the question of actual numbers of OBCs, who, for the past two decades, have been holding policy-making to ransom on the strength of their supposed strength. The last such survey was undertaken in 1931. Possibly dismayed by the latest findings, Mr Moily is not willing to cede their accuracy. He has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, proposing a caste-based census in 2011. However, this would be incomplete without also listing landholdings, annual income and vocations of diverse groups. <b>For not all OBCs are equal, with, say, farmers in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh being prosperous as compared to their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere. For affirmative action to succeed, distinctions have to be made</b>. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The matter has not gone down well with the university community as well. DUTA president Aditya Narain Mishra said they would raise the matter in the academic council and the executive council. âNo college should be allowed to disturb the basic tenets of university rules for governance and academics in the name of minority rights. The university administration should ensure that there is no change in the composition of the governing body. And what kind of say does the Church want in admissions of general category students?â Mishra wondered.
St Stephenâs College supreme council chairman Bishop Sunil K Singh, in an official communication to the college administration, has demanded a meeting of the governing body soon. The agenda reads: âAmendment of the college constitution for significant role of the Church of North India (as proposed in the supreme council meeting).â The purported aim behind this is to have a say in 35 per cent admissions under general quota at the prestigious college and the authority to appoint the vice-principal and bursar directly.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/209401/Church-...A-cry-foul.html
[url="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/panel-wants-education-quota-for-muslims-others/106779-3.html?from=tn"]Panel wants education quota for Muslims, others[/url]
Quote:The Justice Ranganathan Mishra Commission has recommended that 15 percent of seats in all non-minority educational institutions be reserved for religious and linguistic minorities in the country
CNN-IBN has accessed the committeeââ¬â¢s report and learns that it defines religious and linguistic minorities as backward classes and wants them brought under the umbrella of other backward classes (OBCs).
The committee recommends 10 percent reservation for Muslims and 5 percent for other minorities. In case there are not enough Muslim candidates to fill the 10 percent seats, the vacant seats should be offered to other minorities.
The commission has said that in no case the reserved seats should go to majority community. Concessions in eligibility criteria given to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes should be given to minorities.
It has also recommended 10 percent reservation for Muslims and 5 percent for other minorities in all government welfare schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Scheme), the PM Rozgar Yojana and the Grameen Rozgar Yojana.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that the commissionââ¬â¢s report would be tabled in Parliament during the ongoing session. "I have taken note of it. I assure that the report will be tabled before the session gets over," he said in the Lok Sabha.
The National Commission on Religious and Linguistic Minorities led by Justice Ranganathan Mishra, former chief justice of India, submitted its report to the prime minister on May 22, 2007
[url="http://http://www.dailypioneer.com/233488/W-Bengal-to-go-in-for-12-Muslim-quota.html"]W Bengal to go in for 12% Muslim quota[/url]
Quote:UP Govt to end caste-based system in panchayat polls
pioneer.com
Pioneer News Service | Lucknow
In a significant decision, the UP government has decided to introduce rotational system of reservation in the forthcoming panchayat elections drawing the curtains on caste-based reservation in gram panchayats.
The state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Mayawati, which met here on Tuesday, gave a go ahead to the rotational system of reservation suggesting it would help in "infusing a new life" in panchayats. The rotational system of reservation would also be implemented in the ward elections.
A government spokesman said that in the 2005 elections, the gram panchayats were reserved on the basis of castes thereby meaning the gram sabha, which had a dominance of Dalit population, was reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs). Similar was the case with Backward Caste panchayats. The rest were general constituencies or panchayats.
"This would have meant that Dalit-dominated villages would continue to be SC constituencies. Likewise, there would be backward constituencies and general constituencies. The government believed that the development would lack fresh ideas and, therefore, has now decided to introduce a rotational system," the spokesman said.
Under this system, the gram panchayat that were in the SC category in the 2005 elections can become backward or general constituency in the 2010 elections. It will be ensured that the reservation is not repeated in that constituency.
The government has also decided to amend the Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj (Place and Post Reservation) Act, 1994. In 1995, panchayat polls were held under the rotational system but it was changed to caste-based reservation in 2000 and continued till the 2005 elections.
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<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='  ' /> [size="5"][color="#FF0000"]While the issue was raised by the Yadav triumvirate, bringing the House to a standstill, it truly marked the journey of the contentious issue from the political fringe to the mainstream. Virtually every political party demanded it, from Akali Dal to Shiv Sena to AIADMK to DMK, not to mention backward outfits of UP-Bihar ââ¬â RJD, SP and JD(U). The LS will discuss the matter on Tuesday.
The issue has brought out a metamorphosis in political discourse in doctrinaire outfits too. The Left, which put "class" over "caste", lent its voice to the clamour. Basudeb Acharia of CPM said as much. Gurudas Dasgupta of CPI agreed with it though he pushed for an all-party meeting.[/color][/size] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India...887995.cms
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