OBC quota may come in phases

NEW DELHI: Against pro-reservationists’ demand for full implementation of OBC quota in educational institutions in one go, the Oversight Committee headed by Veerappa Moily is toying with the idea of introducing reservation in phases.

A note circulated at the last meeting of the Committee held on June 8 came up with a suggestion for implementation of the 27% OBC quota in three phases, sources said.

It said quotas in IITs/IIMs/AIIMS could be implemented from academic year ’07-08; in Central universities and institutes from ’08-09; and deemed universities and unaided private educational institutions from ’09-10.

When contacted, Moily said a general view has emerged in the Committee that a calibrated approach should be adopted towards quota in view of various difficulties including that of infrastructure for increasing the number of seats in the educational institutions to offset the impact of reservation on general category students.

However, the Committee is yet to firm up its decision and these ideas were part of a strategy to build a knowledge society and prepare a theme paper for the national colloquium on July 3, in order to discuss the pros and cons of the measures and build a consensus on the issue.

Observing that these ideas emanated from the last meeting of the committee, he said some institutions are facing difficulties in implementing the reservation in one go and “we have not yet made a prima facie conclusion.” “We are still examining them. Our mandate is that this has to be implemented from ’07-08,” Moily said.

The Committee had already decided to give an interim report and a final report by August 31 to the government. Last month, the government had announced a 13-member committee headed by Moily to examine the issue of implementing 27% reservation for OBCs in higher education institutions and requirements for increasing seats without reducing the number in general category.