JD-U says Quota Bill will be an eye wash

New Delhi, Aug 24: JD(U) President Sharad Yadav today accused the UPA Government of keeping the private educational institutions outside the proposed reservation bill for Socially and Economically Backward classes at the behest of the ''education mafia.''

Talking to newspersons, Mr Yadav said the Bill likely to be introduced in Parliament tomorrow, would merely be an ''eye-wash'' as it would provide reservation only in the Government or Government aided schools.

He said the Bill was not a follow up exercise of the 93rd Constitutional Amendment Act. In fact, by introducing the proposed legislation the government woul be taking the follow up action of the First Constitutional Amendment Act, 1951, he claimed.

Mr Yadav said that various state governments had already giving reservations to Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) in their educational institutions under the law.

Besides some central educational institutions were also providing reservations to SEBCs under the provisions of the First Amendment.

In the past 55 years, the Central Government, was making provisions of staggered reservations through this bill, he said.

The JD(U) President said the 93rd Amendment to the Constitution was necessitated after the Supreme Court observed that the state was not empowered to enforce reservations in unaided private institutions in August last year of which both the Houses had taken suo moto notice.

Mr Yadav said it was a unanimous decision to bring about the Constitutional amendment to ensure reservations in private educational institutions ''as mandated by the Constitution.'' But it seemed the Government was playing in the hands of the private educational institutions and had ''sidelined the issue of reservations in private educational institutions'' in the proposed bill, he said.

UNI

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