Quota for OBC in phased manner if needed: Moily

New Delhi, Aug 12: Chairman of the Oversight Committee on implementing OBC quota in institutes of higher education Veerappa Moily said he has 'an open mind' about introducing the 54 per cent increase in seats in a phased manner rather than at one go.

''There's no question of bulldozing the implementation of 54 per cent. We are clear about it ... I will examine institution-wise and decide whether they can go in one go or in phases,'' Mr Moily said in an interview to the CNN-IBN programme Devil's Advocate, to be broadcast tomorrow night.

He said some institutions may come forward and say that with the kind of proposals made by the Oversight Committee, they can go at one go. ''That is likely to happen. And some institutions will say it is impossible even if all the facilities are lying there.'' When asked if he would allow individual institutions to decide and give extra time to those who needed and wanted it, Mr Moily replied,'' Very true. Very true.'' He admitted that all the five sub-groups, which recently submitted their interim reports to the Oversight Committee have said it was not possible to implement it at one go, it had to be phased.

Mr Moily said he would not attempt to persuade the sub-groups to change their mind. Instead, he would hold extensive meetings with all the institutions - as well as with experts outside - to understand their reasons before the Oversight Committee takes a final decision which, he said, would be based on ''a holistic approach''.

''The Oversight Committee will take a holistic approach ... the idea is to prepare a comprehensive roadmap to achieve the ultimate objective,'' he said.

He said that after he would receive the final report from all these groups by the 15th of this month, he would call for a series of meetings with individual institutions, the governing council chairmen and apex council chairmen.

When pointed about reports that two members of the Oversight Committee, Bhalchandra Mungekar (a member of the Planning Commission) and Sukhdev Thorat (Chairman of the UGC), believed that the question of staggering the 54 per cent increase was beyond the remit of the Oversight Committee, he appeared to dismiss their dissent and went on to emphasise that protecting the excellence of educational institutions was ''the main theme''.

''That is their personal opinion. I don't think a personal opinion will have an overarching influence over the entire Oversight Committee. The Committee consists of many people and the views of everybody will be taken into consideration. Ultimately the main theme of not disturbing the excellence will prevail on all the institutions.'' Mr Veerappa Moily was also asked about the issue of excluding the OBC creamy layer from reservations in institutions of higher education. Describing it as ''a debatable point,'' he insisted that this was part of the remit of the Oversight Committee ''After all, the policy of implementation is within the jurisdiction of the Oversight Committee. So, we are taking the design of implementation into this and the creamy layer is one component of the implementation process and implementation design,'' he said.

ALbout newspaper reports claiming that perhaps as many as five members of the Oversight Committee, this time allegedly including Education Secretary Sundeep Banerjee, believed that the issue of excluding the creamy layer was outside the remit of the Oversight Committee, Mr Moily ticked them off for raising the issue in public and asked them to instead keep an open mind.

''It is for them to raise the issue for deliberation in the Oversight Committee instead of voicing it personally in the press outside. It (going public) is not appropriate ... I think keeping any issue open is not an offence. I think it can be taken up in the final report.'' About the Oversight Committee's interim report recommendation, he said cut-off marks for OBC reservations in central universities would be midway between the level for SC/ST and the unreserved category whilst the IITs, IIMs and AIIMS were free to set the cut-off mark.

When asked why the cut-off mark for OBCs was not pegged at the same level as SC/STs and whether, as a result, a higher cut off mark would effectively undermine reservations for OBCs, he replied : ''OBCs are not equivalent to SC/ST ... the idea is not to degrade these institutions to enable the OBC students to get in. I want the OBC students to go to institutions which have enhanced prestige.

After all, that is in their interest ... I don't want to compromise on excellence,'' he said.

UNI

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