Preposterous remarks, he’s obfuscating issue, say panel members

“He is obfuscating the issue. My view is that even the Constitutional amendment is an enabling legislation. And it doesn’t require the government to extend quotas in institutions,” Mehta said.

NKC’s vice-chairman Dr P M Bhargava, one of the two members to support the quota proposal, said: “His (Arjun Singh’s) casting aspersions on the entire Knowledge Commission is totally unwarranted, unbecoming and incorrect.”

Referring to Singh’s criticism of NKC, he added that the “government at the highest level must learn to cope with differences of opinion.”

Bhargava said that NKC had shown “tremendous intellectual honesty in accommodating both points of view”.

Ashok Ganguly, another NKC member, said: “We have already told the PM about our views and he has given us a patient hearing.”

Referring to Singh’s criticism, Ganguly said: “I don’t have to match such comments. I am not a politician.”