Govt to introduce pvt quota bill without redraft

The cabinet meeting today decided to move the bill in its ‘‘present form’’ on December 20, said Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi. The Lok Sabha will vote on the bill on December 21 and the Rajya Sabha on 22.

BJP spokesperson V K Malhotra said his party would vote against the bill. But the government calculates that non-BJP constituents of the NDA will vote in favour of the Bill, which requires two-thirds of the members present and voting in favour for its passage.

OBC MPs had demanded that the word ‘‘Other Backward Castes’’ be included in the proposed amendment to replace the present ‘‘socially and educationally backward classes’’. Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh had met OBC MPs on Thursday and has said he was ‘‘open to redrafting the amendment bill’’. ‘‘The introduction of the word OBC is necessary to avoid confusion in interpretations in the future,’’ said Sachin Pilot, Congress MP who was part of the delegation that met the HRD minister.

However, the government took a view that attempting to have the word OBC introduced in the Constitution ‘‘may open a Pandora’s box’’, and decided to go ahead with the current draft, officials said. ‘‘The present draft enables reservation for OBC also,’’ explained an official.

Dasmunsi said the UPA coalition was committed to protect the interest of students who are now being affected by the Supreme Court judgement declaring as unconstitutional quotas in unaided colleges. The Bill will remain ‘‘unaltered’’ he said, and the legislation would be tabled in its present form. ‘‘The interests of minorities and OBCs have been reflected in the Bill,’’ he added.