We have time, we can bring law, says Govt

Speaking to reporters here, Union Law Minister H R Bharadwaj said the Union Cabinet would take stock of the reaction of MPs.

The Left parties have asked the Government to enact a law to set up a regulatory mechanism for exercising social control over the entire education system. ‘‘The next session of Parliament should discuss whether a new law was required or the Constitution be amended… There has to be some social control over the education system as we cannot treat it as a commodity,’’ Left leaders, including Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) and A B Bardhan (CPI) told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here.

Earlier, Arjun Singh told the Lok Sabha, while responding to a calling attention motion moved by A Krishnaswamy of the DMK, that the Government was committed to the policy of reservation. The Supreme Court verdict, he said, ‘‘impinges on social rights.’’ The minister also agreed to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the issue before the end of the current session of Parliament.

In an order on August 12, the apex court had said that in case of unaided professional educational institutions, minority or non-minority, the state had no authority to have a quota of state seats or enforce a reservation policy, observing that this constituted a serious encroachment on the right and autonomy of private professional educational institutions. The Court had also ruled that unaided institutions could have their own admission system based on merit. Though there was a ‘‘rare unanimity’’ on the issue — as Singh described it — the suggestion for the all-party meeting came from JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar. The minister said that he had written to all chief ministers and also convened a meeting of state ministers, in charge of professional education, on August 27 in the Capital.

‘‘It is important that we try and understand the implications of the judgment and evolve a national approach on this important issue. This approach must address national, social and constitutional imperatives in a holistic manner,’’ Singh said. Observing that all agreed on the issue of protecting the interests of backward classes, he said, ‘‘I want to categorically state that the government is committed to the policy of reservation.’’

The members, cutting across party lines, described the judgment as ‘‘untenable’’ and asked the Government to evolve a comprehensive legislation which retained the reservation quota system for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minorities. Noting that the SC judgment would not come into force till the next academic year, Singh said they had time to ‘‘deliberate and legislate.’’

He said a draft legislation had been prepared addressing the issue following deliberations at a two-day meeting of state ministers of higher and technical education at Bangalore in January. This was also circulated during the last meeting of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in July.

‘‘The judgment has come at a stage when we were awaiting comments from all state governments. It has, in a substantial way, affected the proposed scheme in the draft legislation. But our objective remains the same,’’ he said.The minister assured the members that much before the next academic session, ‘‘we will make up our mind.’’ The Government would take all steps to strengthen the social order and fulfill aspirations of the weaker sections, he added.

Krishnaswamy of the DMK demanded that a comprehensive legislation be formulated which would ensure that the reservation quota in self-financing higher educational institutions was kept intact. K Subbarayan of CPI said that suitable amendments to the law should be brought to ensure social justice.

M Ramadoss of PMK said that the court verdict had created an ‘‘explosive situation’’. He said private unaided institutions had the social responsibility of helping poor students. S K Modi of BJP contended that since there was reservation in jobs, there should be reservation in educational institutions too.