Gowda welcomes SC verdict on OBC reservation

Bangalore, Apr 11(UNI) Janata Dal(S) supremo H D Devegowda today welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and also the exclusion of creamy layer from the socially and educationally backward classes.

Speaking to reporters he said his party stood for social justice and was committed to provide it to all sections of the society. Some sections of the OBCs had enjoyed the benefits of the reservation for the last several years and now they should sacrifice it for the really backward people.

Referring to the reports of the Union Human Resource Ministry expressing its concern over the exclusion of creamy layer from the purview of the quota and taking it to the cabinet, he said he would write a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to extend the reservation policy to those who really needed it in the centrally sponsored higher education institutions.

It was unfortunate that this latest 'token' gesture of reservation in admission to central education institutions was being proclaimed as the act of deliverance of the backward classes who were undergoing extreme sufferings in view of the agrarian crisis.

As the Chief Minister of Karnataka, he had gone a step ahead than giving the people of the oppressed class a token help.

"I had taken a historical step in ensuring social justice in the state by providing 33 per cent reservation for OBCs, women and minorities in jobs in 1995. Now it is being done in a deliberately divisive manner in which the politics of social justice is being played," he said.

UNI SIV RS RKN1612