OBC forum of MPs also demand quota in promotion

NEW DELHI: The political implications of the Constitution (117th amendment) Bill, 2012, got bigger with Other Backward Classes ( OBC) forum of Parliamentarians raising a demand that quotas for promotions in government jobs be extended to OBCs as well.

The bill, introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, is to ensure that quotas in promotions in government jobs for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) employees. The OBC Forum, headed by Congress MP Hanumantha Rao, boasting 156 MPs as members, has demanded that a similar bill be introduced for OBC employees as well.

After a meeting of MPs of the forum, Rao said a delegation would be calling on the prime minister on Thursday to press for its demands. "We don't have any problems with the SC/STs getting quotas in promotion, but we want our rights too," he said. SP has consistently and single-handedly opposed the quota for SC/STs bill, due to "local issues in UP" says Rao.

"We don't oppose this bill, we want our rights. SP has a local problem with BSP as they are political rivals in UP. The rest of OBC MPs do not want to deny anyone their rights, we just want what was promised to us by Sitaram Kesri on the floor of the House in 1995, when he was minister for social justice and empowerment," he said.

SP has been accused of not just playing to its vote bank of OBCs in UP while opposing quotas in promotion for SC/STs but also eyeing the upper caste vote bank in the state, which is opposed to any quotas in promotion. The upper caste vote has largely been the preserve of BJP and Congress in UP, with a significant portion voting for Mayawati recently. That appeal could be diluted if both the SC/STs and OBC demands for quota in promotion are accepted by the government.