BJP wants social empowerment without division of society

New Delhi, May 29: Taking a middle path on the reservation issue, the BJP today said that it was for a fine blend of social empowerment for achieving the target of making India a knowledge based economy without dividing society on caste and communal lines.

The two-day National Executive which considered several raging current topics in its deliberations attended by top leaders including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Leader of Opposition L K Advani said that the party supported the cause of social justice without squeezing the merit space and excellence of institutions of higher education, BJP Spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told newspersons after the inaugural session.

The process of implementation had become a 'battle of one-upmanship' between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh. The BJP was not against reservation and had extended support for social empowerment in 1985 in its Bhopal resolution, Mr Prasad said..

He said BJP President Rajnath Singh in his remarks had made the party's views clear that the intention and handling of the reservation issue by the UPA government was not to achieve the objective of social justice but to create social tensions. ''The party had supported the Constitutional amendment to provide reservations in higher educations, but the manner in which the Bill was passed without discussion had created the problems. The Government should have built up social consensus to see that the social fabric is not damaged,'' he said.

Mr Singh, who championed the cause of Most Backward Classes (MBC) during his tenure as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, said that efforts must be taken to ensure that benefits of reservation must reach the most deprived among the socially deprived sections. The economically weaker sections of upper castes should be included for availing reservation benefits. He also wanted non-exclusion of the minority run institutions from the reservation obligations. He said the government was silent on this matter. There should be no reservation on religious basis, Mr Singh said.

Stating that the BJP was opposed to reservation on the basis of religion, Mr Prasad said that even the courts have accepted it. He said the BJP favoured reservation for underpriviledged, marginalised and backward people. However, the problems lies with its implementation. He said in today's knowledge society, merit and excellence could not be compromised.

''The BJP is for a fine blend of social empowerment alongwith smooth running of ''knowledge society,'' he said.

BJP President Rajnath Singh in his presidential address also criticised the UPA government's handling of the reservation issue stating that 'it leaves no one in doubt that its object is not social justice but to create social tensions.'' He said that the BJP supported the Constitution amendment to provide reservations in higher educational institutions. However, while doing so, any attempt at divisiveness must be avoided.

''Social fabric of the society must not be damaged. Consensus building is a must for such initiatives. The UPA government has failed on that score. The government must ensure that while implementing reservations, the space for merit is not squeezed and excellence of institutions is not compromised,'' Mr Singh said.

He said the efforts must be taken to ensure that the benefits of reservation must reach the most deprived among the socially deprived sections. The government must ensure that the Economically weaker sections of the upper castes are included in the benefit of the reservation.

The BJP is opposed to the exclusion of minority institutions from the obligation of reservation. There must be no reservation on religious basis, he reiterated.

UNI

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