Lok Sabha takes up OBC reservation bill

New Delhi, Dec 14: Lok Sabha today took up for consideration a bill seeking to provide for 27 per cent reservation in admission for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Central Educational Institutions imparting higher education.

The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) bill, 2006, was introduced in the Lower House by Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh on August 25 this year.

The bill was later referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for scrutiny. The committee suggested some amendments to the original bill.

Moving the bill for the consideration of passing by the House, Mr Singh today said the bill seeks to provide for the reservation in admission of students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, to certain educational institutions maintained or aided by the Central Government.

Initiating debate on the bill, senior BJP member Rasa Singh Rawat supported the bill, but said his party was opposed to religion-based reservation.

He questioned the motive behind the bill and alleged that it was so timed as to influence the voters of the four election going states. This was clear from the fact that the bill was brought 14 years after the Mandal Commission report was implemented.

Congress member K V Thangabalu said vested interests were still letting loose propaganda that the OBCs constituted only 41 per cent of the population. But the truth was that 60 per cent of the population belonged to the OBC.

In order to expose the anti-OBC propaganda, the government should order a caste-wise census to find out the exact number of OBCs, he said.

UNI