Govt. committed to quota, says Nadda

Govt. committed to quota, says Nadda

Paswan says it’s a constitutional right

13/06/2020

J.P. Nadda

A day after the Supreme Court said reservation is not a fundamental right, BJP president J.P. Nadda clarified on Friday that his party and the Narendra Modi government were committed to it.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan demanded that all political parties come together and put all laws related to reservation in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution so as to prevent any legal challenge to them.

In a statement, Mr. Nadda said some people were trying to create confusion. “The government under Narendra Modi and the BJP are committed to reservation. Our commitment to social justice is unbreakable. We stand committed to reservation. The Prime Minister has repeated it again and again. Our endeavour is always towards social harmony and equal opportunity for everyone,” he said.

‘Constitutional right’

Mr. Paswan said reservation in government jobs and education for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and the economically backward members of the general castes might not be a fundamental right, but it is very much a constitutional right.

He expressed disappointment that some controversy was often raised over the issue, though the reservation for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes owed its genesis to the Poona Pact between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar.

“The LJP appeals to all political parties, who have joined hands over the issue earlier as well, that they come together to put all laws regarding reservation in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to lay all controversies to rest,” he said in a statement.

The Supreme Court refused to entertain petitions of various political parties challenging the Centre’s decision not to grant 50% reservation to OBCs as per the Tamil Nadu law in the medical seats surrendered by the State in the all India quota for undergraduate, postgraduate and dental courses in 2020-21. It asked the DMK, the AIADMK, the CPI(M), the MDMK, the PMK, the Congress and the CPI to approach the Madras High Court with their pleas.