RESERVATION - 2006 - Indian Social Institute

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New Delhi, Nov. 19: The government is likely to go in for a Constitution Amendment Bill in the forthcomingWinter Session of Parliament to tide over the issue of creamy layer in the reservations for the ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes. The government is in a bind over the Supreme Court order on the issue ofcreamy layer in reservation for SCs and STs. The matter assumes urgency as Assembly elections in fivestates, including the politically significant Uttar Pradesh, are round the corner. Dalits constitute a sizeablepercentage of the population in UP. Parties have been suggesting that the reservation-related laws shouldbe put under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to overcome adverse judicial scrutiny. A group ofministers on dalit affairs was constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to firm up opinion whetherthe matter should be referred to a larger bench or whether the Constitution should be amended. The GoM,headed by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, met on November 14 and decided to seek theopinion of the Attorney-General. (Asian Age 20/11/06)No creamy layer among SCs, STs: Banerjee (25)New Delhi: By accepting Attorney General Milon K. Banerjee's opinion, the United Progressive AllianceGovernment seems to have set at rest the controversy generated by the October 19 Supreme Courtverdict on putting a 50 per cent cap on total reservation and exclusion of the creamy layer among theScheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The Attorney General is understood to have made it clearthat the judgment by a five-judge Constitution Bench does not relate to the creamy layer among theSCs/STs in reservation and that the references to it are only observations. The Attorney General's opinionwas sought by the Ministry of Personnel in the wake of the verdict, which stirred up a hornets' nest withmajor political parties and those espousing the cause of social justice coming out sharply againstexcluding the creamy layer and demanding an immediate Constitution amendment to rectify the situation.Some even wanted the Government to move a petition before a larger Bench, while some spoke of puttingthe laws on reservation in the Ninth Schedule to keep it away from judicial review. The Government set upa Group of Ministers headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. It included Home MinisterShivraj Patil, Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj, Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar, Tribal Affairs Minister P.R.Kyndiah, Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, Chemical and Fertilizers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan andMinister for Personnel Affairs Suresh Pachouri. After discussions on the Law Ministry note, the GoMsought the Attorney General's opinion to decide the further course of action. In Mr. Banerjee's perception,in Nagaraj's case there was no issue for determination of the so-called creamy layer among the SCs andthe STs. The observations on the creamy layer could not be said to be ratio of the judgment. According tohim, `ratio' means a decision. There appears to be no reason as given in Nagaraj's case for theobservations on the creamy layer insofar as what constitutes ratio decidendi (a decision). ………..(TheHindu 24/11/06)Meira joins Paswan call for quota in judiciary (25)New Delhi : The debate over quota in judiciary on Tuesday received a fillip from Union Social Justice andEmpowerment Minister Meira Kumar. Joining hands with Union Fertilisers, Chemicals and Steel MinisterRamvilas Paswan on the quota in judiciary, Kumar said that there were no two opinions so far as quota forthe scheduled castes and tribes in the judiciary was concerned. According to Kumar, the Social Justiceand Empower-ment Ministry in tandem with other ministries concerned was looking into the matterseriously. "The modalities have to be worked out in consultation with all other stakeholders, and hopefullythings would take some concrete shape shortly," she said. Kumar, however, refused to field any questionsabout the prospects of quota in the private sector that has seemingly put on the backburner after PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh set up a co-ordination committee under the chairmanship of his personalsecretary TKA Nair to work out the modalities in consultation with the industry. Kumar, who has steadfastlybeen pursuing quota for SC/ST in the private sector, on Tuesday announced the institution of an award tobe given to four non-governmental or other institutes annually for doing outstanding jobs in eradicating theblot of untouchability from the society. "All said and done, untouchability continues to be the root cause ofatrocities against SCs and STs in the country. There is still a need to create more awareness abouthuman rights among the discriminated groups of the society. The award aims to act as an incentive to theorganisations engaged in addressing the problem of untouchability driven atrocities in the society," shesaid. Kumar made a suo motu statement to this effect in the Lok Sabha on Monday as well. The award
would be given from 2007 onwards. "The award would be given to four institutions from north, south, eastand west in India," she told mediapersons while launching the four national awards. (Pioneer 29/11/006)Education quota Bill passed in LS (25)New Delhi : A controversial bill that seeks 27 per cent of seats for students of Other Backward Classes(OBCs) in the Central higher education institutions in the country was passed unanimously in the LokSabha Thursday after the House rejected Opposition BJP's amendment to bring minority run institutionsalso under its ambit. Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh, however, tried to explain away the exclusion of theminority-run education institutions from its purview by saying that they had already been admitting dalitsand weaker sections and there was no reason to believe they would not do so in future. The explanationevoked furious protests from the Opposition BJP Members led by BJP Deputy Leader VK Malhotra, whoasked why minority-run educational institutions were being absolved of the onus of accommodating theDalits and the OBCs. The Bill, officially known as Central Education Institutions (Reservation inAdmission) Bill, 2006, is considered to be a path-breaking one for the OBCs who comprise nearly 50 percent of the country's population. Although a parliamentary standing committee has recommended thecreamy layer of the OBCs should be exempted from the quota, the Government decided to include themin the Bill. The committee was of the view that only if OBC seats remain vacant, should the creamy layerbe allowed to take them. However, major allies of the Congress in the ruling UPA were against that idea.While the Bill extended reservation to all the OBCs listed by the Mandal Commission, it has exemptedminority-run institutions from its purview. The Congress-led Government's decision to bring the legislationhad created major controversy as medical students vehemently opposed the Bill. They held prolongeddemonstrations, severely affecting health services in government-run hospitals, including the premier AllIndia Institute of Medical Sciences in the national Capital, to protest the move. The nation-wide proteststhat lasted more than two weeks forced the Government to work out a compromise that while seats in thegeneral category would remain unaffected, the quota implementation would be done in a staggeredmanner and faculty and infrastructure enhanced accordingly. ……… (Pioneer 15/12/06)More docs join quota protest fast (25)New Delhi: To ensure that the patients do not suffer because of the ongoing strike, a General BodyMeeting of Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of AIIMS on Friday decided that only 20 doctors wouldcontinue the relay indefinite hunger strike while the rest will work. The RDA of AIIMS went on an indefinitehunger strike from Thursday night to protest against the Government's move on the reservation policy."We will dedicate ourselves for the people of the country and will continue to fight for this noble cause,"said Dr Kumar Harsh, RDA president. The move by the AIIMS RDA is being commended by other residentdoctors in the country. Three resident doctors of SMS Medical College of Jaipur have also gone on striketo support the cause, said a doctor on strike. The Central Education Institutions (Reservation inAdmission) Bill, 2006, that was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday by a voice vote, extends 27 per centreservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central higher education institutions. The Bill hasnot excluded the creamy layer despite the Parliamentary Standing Committee's recommendations. "TheGovernment is adopting a divide and rule policy of the British and the common man is suffering. TheGovernment has even ignored their own standing committee's recommendations", said a member of theRDA. The condition of the 20 RDAs is stable till now. The resident doctors have received calls fromKanpur and Banaras supporting their cause. "Everyone is with us, even the faculty members though theyhave their own limitations and cannot come in open support of us", said a doctor on strike. "This hungerstrike is in sharp contrast to the agitation that took place last time. They have a right to protest. TheGovernment should be ashamed of the tactics it is employing to exploit their vote bank", said a facultymember of AIIMS. The Bill, which provides 27 per cent reservation for OBCs, 15 per cent for ScheduledCastes and 7.5 per cent for Scheduled Tribes, will come into effect from academic year 2007. (Pioneer16/12/06)HRD panel: Quotas for dalit Muslims (25)New Delhi, Dec. 20: Members of a high-level committee, constituted by the HRD ministry to work on theplan of action to improve education among Muslims, has suggested extension of reservation to dalitMuslims in jobs and institutions of learning. The 13-member committee, which is headed by Unionminister of state for HRD M.A.A. Fatmi, has also pitched for adequate primary and secondary educationfacilities for dalit Muslims. Talking to this reporter on Wednesday after the two-day meeting of Muslim
Page 1 and 2: RESERVATION - 2006Compiled & Edited
Page 4 and 5: New Delhi, April 10: The Cabinet Se
Page 6 and 7: New Supreme Court interim order on
Page 8 and 9: the anti-quota march also saw OBC s
Page 10: National Knowledge Commission heade
Page 14 and 15: survey to assess the impact of quot
Page 16 and 17: efore him. But the meeting could no
Page 18 and 19: Police, medicos face-off at AIIMS (
Page 20 and 21: local bodies and private institutio
Page 22 and 23: SC won’t stay HC order, says no t
Page 24 and 25: in the Constitution definitely refe
Page 26 and 27: the replies of Union Social Justice
Page 28 and 29: STs in any examination. The 85th Am
Page 30 and 31: quota from the benchmark of 50 per
Page 32 and 33: ‘Caste, not class, basis for Musl
Page 36: MPs, committee members, NGOs and in

RESERVATION - 2006 - Indian Social Institute

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