OBC parliamentarians to draw up course of action

NEW DELHI: With resentment rising over the government’s decision to stagger the implementation of the 27% OBC quota in higher educational institutions, a meeting of the OBC parliamentarians’ forum has been convened next week to finalise the next course of action.

The date for the meeting, a senior RJD leader told ET, will be decided on Friday. The agenda, however, was clear, he maintained. “The mandate was in favour of implementing the quota proposal at one go and not in a phased manner. We’ll formulate our strategy during the gathering,” he said.

Parties such as the RJD, PMK, DMK and even the Left were in favour of enforcing the quota proposal at one go, but were overruled by Prime minister Manmohan Singh who cited the Veerappa Moily oversight committee’s report to push the case for a calibrated approach.

The Prime minister had, as part of his plans to hammer out a consensus over the issue, been meeting leaders of various parties in the past few days. As part of this exercise, he met senior ministerial colleagues, including defence minister, Pranab Mukherjee, agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar and S&T minister, Kapil Sibal on Wednesday.

The government, it is clear, is caught in a delicate position. If it pushes the “staggered implementation” formula, it risks inviting the anger of the OBCs and parties representing their cause. The upper castes are, in any case, upset with the ruling combine for reviving the quota row.

Quota hawks such as the PMK and the RJD had, in fact, mounted an aggressive campaign to force the government to implement the 27% OBC quota proposal in toto from the next academic session itself.

The oversight committee, however, poured cold water on their game plan by citing the constraints faced by the IITs and the IIMs in going the “in-one-go” route.

The OBC parliamentarians’ forum, which comprises of MPs from all political parties, according to the RJD leader, will discuss the “calibrated approach” formula in details.

“The government cannot go against the spirit of the Constitution. If it wants the betterment of the socially and educationally backward, it’ll have to enforce the provisions of the Constitution in one stroke,” he maintained.