OBC Quota Bill For Unaided Institutions On Way: Arjun

New Delhi, Mar 9 (UNI) A Bill to reserve higher learning seats for a segment of backward classes in unaided private institutions is likely to be introduced in Parliament this session, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh said today.

Singh told journalists that consultations have already been held with State governments and the centre hoped to introduce the Bill for reservations for other backward classes in this session.

Asked how the Ministry proposed to spend the extra one per cent cess, Singh said minority education was one of the areas on which the new funds would be spent.

In reply to another question, he said whether the funds are mis-spent was for India's Auditor General to determine.

The HRD Minister was holding his first news conference in more than two months since he was admitted to hospital on December 20 ''for routine medical check-up.'' Listing strides such as a 156 per cent spending hike in higher and technical education, Singh dismissed suggestions that his indisposition over the past few weeks may have told on his work.

In all humility, Singh told a questioner, nothing ''in my department'' has suffered.

If priorities set by a Department are well calculated and well conceived, things are apt to move along just fine, he remarked.

He cited 22.4 per cent spending increase in literacy, primary and secondary education sectors to underscore that ''access to education is of utmost importance for educational advancement of disadvantaged sections.'' Singh said the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act was enacted and notified two months ago in pursuance of the 93rd Amendment to India's Constitution.

The Act is intended to provide statutory reservations to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes in central educational institutions.

Singh said Rs 2,698 crores are proposed to be provided to central educational institutions in 2007-08 to augment student intake and ensure that reservations do not reduce seats available to unreserved categories.

He said a provision of Rs 502 crores has also been made for National Mission for Education through distance learning and information and communications technologies.

This would help provide high speed interconnectivity between 84 Central Educational and Research Institutions and develop the e-course content, he said.

UNI