Students must cease anti-quota protests: Paswan

New Delhi, May 19: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) President and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today condemned the police lathicharge on protesting students in Patna but said that reservation for OBC, would soon become a reality as the Constitution had been amended.

Mr Paswan appealed to the agitating students not to continue with their protest as the Constitution has already been amended.

Denying that the administration had failed to tackle the sensitive issue properly in view of the spread of the agitation and police brutality on the protesting students, he said the government was trying to find a balanced solution.

''Already there is a proposal to increase the number of seats by 27 percent and then give reservation to OBC students. That way, the number of general category seats would remain same,'' he said.

On how the government would be able to increase the number of seats in IITs and IIMs in view of the already acute shortage of faculty in these prestigious educational institutions, he said, ''This is the government's responsibility. Once it decides to hike the number of seats, it will ensure and increase faculty members in these institutions.'' He also proposed to reserve ten per cent seats for the economically backward students of higher castes.

UNI

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