Moily report ready, to PM soon: Quota to cost Rs 17200 cr

New Delhi, Sep 27(UNI) Implementing 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes(OBC) in elite educational institutions will cost Rs 17200 Crore, and the need to continue the measure will be reviewed after five or ten years.

In the meanwhile, supplementary efforts will be made to enhance the educational level of these clases so that they could get a level playing field in seeking admissions to the institutions.

These are some of the suggestions of the Veerappa Moily-headed oversight committee set up to suggest a roadmap for implementing quota for OBCs in the higher educational institutions without harming the interest of the general category students.

It met today to okay its final report.

The Committee had been set up following counytrywide agitation by students against the 27 per cent reservation announced by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh.

It has already submitted one interim report to the Government.

The final Report will be submitted to the Prime Minister soon, said Mr Moily briefing newspersons after an eight-hour-long meeting of the committee held here today.

A Bill providing for the quota and envisaging increase in seats in the higher institutions to mainatain the room for general category students was introduced on the last day of the monsoon session of Parliament.

Mr Moily said that all the institutions will implement the quota in three years. He, however, said that IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Infore and IIT Bangalore wanted four years, but the committee finally came to the view that the facility was to be put in place in three years.

Replying to a question about excluding the creamy layer of OBCs from the quota benefit, Mr Moily said that he has left decision on this issue to the Government.

Mr Moily said that the committee has also suggested to the government to create more ''IIT-like'' institutions and go in for publi-private partnership as far as the funding was concerned. ''We have also suggested provision of scholarship to OBCs from ninth standard and arrangement for their special tutoring by the higher institutions to enable them to comptete with others,'' he said.

The 13-member committee, which includes some of the top technocrats and administrators, prepared the final report on the basis of input from 21 experts on engineering, management and academic education, said Mr Moily.

Planning Commission Member Secretary R R Shah is the group's Member Secretary, and Members included Planning Commission Member Secretary B Mungekar, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Director General R Mashelkar and University Grants Commission Chairman Sukhadeo K Thorat.

They also include Bangalore-based National Law School's former Vice Chancellor G Mohan Gopal, All India Council for Technical Education Vice Chairman R A Yadav, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General N K Ganguly and Former Secretary R V Vaidyanatha Ayyar.

The Secretaries of the Secondary and Higher Education Department, the Health and Family Welfare Ministry, the Agricultural Research and Education Department and the Expenditure Department were its Ex-Officio Members.

UNI