http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Govt_in_a_fix_on_quota_proposal/articleshow/2456366.cms
Govt in a fix on quota proposal 14 Oct 2007, 0005 hrs IST,Subodh Ghildiyal,TNN NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) move to favour "reserved" status for Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam is crucial since it is expected to guide the Centre in framing its response to the demand for SC status by "Dalit" Christian groups being heard by a Supreme Court Bench. If government finds itself in a dilemma, it may have only itself to blame as it had asked the Ranganath Mishra commission on religious and linguistic minorities to also examine this demand. The Mishra commission had recommended that SC status, limited to Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs, should be delinked from religion by an amendment to Constitution (SCs) Order, 1950. The findings were then sent to NCSC for its opinion. With the Mishra commission and now NCSC backing the demand, government will have to deal with the heightened expectations of the agitating groups even as it not clear how the reccomendations can be actually implemented. At a political level, even though a section of Congress is pushing for such a course, there is a risk of antagonising existing dalits as well as the upper castes. With NCSC itself drawing attention to the inviolability of the 50% quota ceiling, insiders feel that touching the 27% OBC quota could be the only other option. Muslims and Christians claiming Dalit status are in the OBC list and it is argued that if they are excluded from backward category, it could make it possible to reduce the quota. But with the government resting on the support of major OBC players like Lalu Prasad and M Karunanidhi, not to talk of backward MPs in it own fold, this too could be a non-starter. The issue has raised anxiety among existing Dalits. Accepting Christians and Muslims in the Dalit fold would raise the issue of political reservation. With SCs enjoying a constitutional right of reservation from gram panchayats to Parliament, these two religious groups would also be eligible to contest from Dalit constituencies.
