Quota Bill: Tabled, goes to Parliament panel

The Cabinet meeting on Monday that approved the Bill had deleted the creamy-layer clause. HRD Minister Arjun Singh clarified that the English version is the authentic one.

The CPM and CPI demanded that the government bring in a Bill to provide for reservation in unaided Central educational institutions. CPM leader Sitaram Yechury pointed out that the primary purpose of the 93rd amendment in the Constitution was expanding reservations into unaided institutions. He said he regretted that the government had not brought the Bill for that purpose. Yechury also demanded that “creamy layer” be excluded from reservations.

The quota Bill defines OBCs as the class or classes of citizens who are socially and educationally backward and are so determined by the Central Government. This implies that the creamy layer — whose inclusion had been a bone of contention — will after all enjoy the benefits of job reservation.

But the Left has not found support from the government’s southern allies DMK and PMK, which pitched for full implementation.

The Bill provides for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in admission in the Central educational institutions.

The Bill has schedule in which eight institutions of excellence, including Homi Bhabha National Institute and its constituent units like Bhabha Atomic Research Centre as also Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, are excluded from the quota regime.

The Bill allows for phasing out the implementation. It says “if for reasons of financial, physical or academic limitations or in order to maintain the standards of education, the annual permitted strength in any branch of study or faculty of such institutions cannot be increased for the coming academic session, it may seek permission to increase the strength over a maximum period of three years.”

In such a case, the extent of reservation for OBCs shall be limited for that academic session in such a manner that the number of seats available to OBCs for each academic session is commensurate with the increase in the permitted strength in each year.