Arjun Singh has a problem

The National Knowledge Commission, which reports directly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

The National Knowledge Commission NKC, which reports directly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was kept in the dark about Human Resource Development HRD Minister Arjun Singh8217;s plan to impose 49.5 quotas in Central universities and institutions of excellence.

Speaking to The Sunday Express from the US, NKC chairman Sam Pitroda said: 8220;It Arjun Singh8217;s announcement came as news to me8230;it8217;s a very important issue. This is a step fraught with long-term implications.8217;8217;

Asked to comment on the Minister8217;s announcement, Pitroda, founding chairman of the Telecom Commission, said: 8220;We definitely need more discussion and debate on this issue. We, as a commission, will be taking a collective view on this only after we meet in the first week of May. We will prepare a paper on affirmative action in 90 days. When I meet the Prime Minister, I will convey our views.8217;8217;

Sources said the PM, who consults the NKC on all matters related to education, had not specifically discussed this proposal with them. Neither had the commission got any directive from the Prime Minister8217;s Office on the subject.

There8217;s an unmistakable unease within the NKC over how Arjun Singh 8220;pre-empted8221; debate on such a sensitive issue by making his announcement.

More so because the commission was working on a roadmap for affirmative action reforms in the education sector: merit-based scholarships, points and grades depending on economic and social backwardness and financial help to the under-privileged.

The commission, members said, was looking beyond the quota-based approach and examining issues of access for underprivileged groups to primary and secondary education which would improve chances their of entry into premier institutions. It8217;s learnt that the PM hadn8217;t yet made up his mind on this issue; reservations were just 8216;8216;one of the ideas8217;8217; on the table.

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The amendment, which talks of 8216;8216;reservation for socially and economically backward8217;8217; does not speak specifically of OBCs. The idea was to watch how different states would interpret it. Kerala, Goa, Karnataka and Rajasthan are already talking to the Commission on enabling provisions, in lieu of the 93rd Constitutional amendment during the winter session.