Hi,
This is not an attempt to end the (reservation) quota system that was based
on caste. In fact this will end up in reserving about 70% of seats in any
educational institution/govt. services/private sector jobs for the backward
classes. The begining of this issue dates back to Mandal Commission report in
VP Singh's time. At present, all the major political parties support the
proposed quota for OBC not because that'll help the really needy from the
backward classes but for electoral gains. There has been largescale protests
from the upper castes against this and some support for this from backward
castes. The All India Institute of Medical Science in Delhi was paralysed for
about a month in the past in protest of this and with the intervention of the
judiciary the scenario returnned to normal. The left parties & BJP supports
this reservation but with insertion of certain economic criteria in addition to
caste criteria so that those people are benefieted who really needs it.
It has been observed in the past that the quotas for the backward castes are
mostly used by those economically sound people from the backward classes and so
the real intention of reservation is lost.
The sad thing in the current indian scenario is that in every single issue,
the judiciary has to intervenn in the wrong policies adopted by the legislature
and the legislature see foul in this and intrusion into their territory.
Rgds
Mridul Bhuyan
Dilip/Dil Deka <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Is this an attempt to end the (reservation) quota system that was based on
caste? If the quota system is struck down, will it cause havoc among the
beneficiaries of the reservation policies?
Did the quota system really help in empowering the BC and the OBC, or in due
course of time under democracy it was going to happen anyway? Has it helped the
masses or just a few of those who were socially handicapped before?
Having been away from India for a long time, I do not have a good perception
of the situation in today's India. My request is for someone in India to
comment on the news item below so that we can all relate to the issue.
Dilip Deka
===============================================================
From the Sentinel
EDITORIAL » »
Last updated : MONDAY 21 MAY 2007 The Courts Wisdom
We have said here times without number that it is the Judiciary that has
rescued the people of this country from the whims and fancies of politicians.
Had it not been for the Judiciary, our lawmakers, most of whom are also
excellent lawbreakers, would have perhaps hijacked the nation and its people
far beyond recoverable abyss. Whether the repeal of the notorious and
discriminatory IM(DT) Act or the verdict that stayed the implementation of 27
per cent OBC quota in higher educational institutions to name only a few in
recent times it is the courts wisdom that has saved this nation of ours from
being plundered for petty electoral gains. So now as the Supreme Court Bench of
Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice PK Jain has referred the 27 per cent OBC
quota case to a larger Bench on the grounds that the issue involved
considerable importance of constitutional law having an impact on the entire
nation and a larger Bench would have to examine whether the government had
unbridled powers to perpetuate the reservation policies, the nation ought to
pause for a while and ponder whether the political class has not already played
havoc with the nations just course towards progress in the true sense of the
term. The apex courts message of Thursday is clear: that the lawmakers in the
country just cannot make laws that address their narrow constituencies and aim
to expand them, such as the casteist vote banks.
Not only this. The court also said that the government could not adopt any
bullying attitude that could impinge on the fundamental rights of citizens.
It pointed out that the governments caste-based reservation policy seemed to
be violative of various provisions like Articles 14, 15, 21 and 21 that
guarantee fundamental rights. More important and here is the real rebuke
the Bench of Justice Pasayat and Justice Jain felt that if the government
really wanted to adopt a policy as such for all-inclusive growth and
development it should have rather focused on ensuring compulsory education
for illiterates, regardless of the caste barrier. The Bench also wanted to know
as to why minority educational institutions should be exempted from the purview
of the 27 per cent OBC quota policy. These are questions which the government
of the day must answer in candid terms and then apologize for having taken the
people of the country for a ride so shamelessly. Where is
compulsory education irrespective of the caste barrier? What stops the
government from evolving a policy to that end? Just because such a policy will
not fetch votes or consolidate vote banks or create new ones? Or is it that the
leaders wielding power do not know what it means to drive the nation along the
path of progress? As for freeing the minority institutions from the burden of
27 per cent quota, the equation is clear. After all, how can the government
dilute an existing and infallible vote bank of the so-called minorities to
accommodate other vote-bank interests when these interests can so easily be
thrust into other non-minority domains? The court knows how to read the
politicians line. One hopes a larger Supreme Court Bench hearing the
reservation issue would confirm more of this.
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