'DU not prepared for 27 pc quota this session'

New Delhi, May 21: Admitting that the Delhi University was not prepared to implement 27 per cent OBC quota from this academic session if the Supreme Court vacates the stay on it, Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental today said adequate infrastructure will have to be created first.

''We are not prepared to implement 27 per cent OBC reservation if the court vacates the stay. Such infrastructure has to be created and that will take time and money,'' Prof Pental told reporters here.

However, he said the University was bound by the Parliamentary legislation and will abide by the government directives on the issue.

The admission process to various undergraduate courses in the university for about 35,000 seats will commence from June 1.

The Vice Chancellor said only three or four new colleges under the university were ready to meet infrastructure requirements for implementing OBC reservation.

''At the moment we are in the process of collecting data from various colleges for implementing the quota... It is a huge task. If we have to implement it in the next session we must get money to start the work today,'' he explained.

Citing the notification on OBC quota, Dr Pental said standard and quality of education is not to be compromised while implementing the reservation which could be done over a staggered period of three years.

Causing a major setback to the Centre, the Supreme Court on March 29 put a stay on implementation of the quota and directed the government to put it on hold in the academic session 2007-08.

On May 17, the Court referred the issue to a larger bench.

The Court had raised several questions on the validity of the caste-based reservation policy and observed that the government cannot adopt any unfair attitude which could intrude on the citizens' fundamental rights.

The government wants to increase the number of reserved seats from 22.5 per cent to 49.5 per cent by including 27 per cent quota for the OBCs. This move has been strongly opposed by the general category students.

UNI

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