Arjun Singh hits back at EC

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New Delhi: The Union Human Resource minister Arjun Singh is determined to go on with the reservation of seats for the OBCs in educational institutions.

CJ: Parama Majumder

Fri, Apr 14, 2006 00:00:00 IST

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Arjun Singh :

THE UNION HUMAN Resource Development (HRD) minister Arjun Singh hit back at the Election Commission (EC) of India on Sunday by denying categorically its allegation of any breach of model code of conduct. In a five-and-a-half-page explanation to the commission he said, ‘I categorically deny that any time before or on April 5, 2006, or subsequently any announcement has been made in respect of any percentage of reservations in favour of any sections of the society or I have said anything on the matter which is not already in the public domain or which is inconsistent with the all party consensus in Parliament. ’

Earlier, the media had widely reported that the HRD ministry announced a 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in 20 central universities, the Indian Institute of Management and the Indian Institute of Technology, even when the election process in the five states was already on. If the 27 per cent reservation is implemented the overall reservation in these institutes will go up to 49.5 per cent, because 22.5 per cent reservation for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes is already in place.

Singh’s decision drew flak from some quarters. The Election Commission raised questions about the timing of the announcement as it deemed it to be giving concessions to certain sections of the electorate in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Pondicherry. On 9 April the Election Commission sent a letter to the Cabinet Secretariat demanding an explanation in the case. Replying rather aggressively to the commission’s objections Singh said that the reservation of seats for the OBCs is nothing new, since it builds on Article 15(5) of the Constitution, which was inserted in the constitution after the 104th amendment. This amendment received presidential assent on 20 January 2006.

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Posted comments (1)

	Arjun Singh hits back at EC
	\| 05 July 2006 Reply to Comment \| New Comment \| Report Abuse

	The Election Commision only raised questions because it is afraid that in the near future even the commission's seat may be reserved for some caste. I also strongly feel people from Andamans should have a qouta in the Indian Cricket Team. A foreign coach needs to be recruited to train the Jarowas.They should also reserve one of the two openers' slot for them.In the current boom of stock market SEBI should plan something to come up with a rule according to which every company needs to reserve a certain quota of their shares for the NFBC(Not so Forward but backward class).These reservations are really required.
	\| 19 April 2006 Reply to Comment \| New Comment \| Report Abuse