VHP supports Mohan Bhagwat's call for review of reservation policy

NEW DELHI: Vishwa Hindu Parishad ( VHP) today supported RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's call for a review of the reservation policy and asked the Centre to set up a judicial commission to find out if the beneficiary castes needed it any more.

Pushing for the review of quota system, VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain said what Bhagwat suggested was nothing new as even the makers of Constitution had envisaged a review of reservation after 10 years.

VHP's strong pitch for the review comes after BJP distanced itself from Bhagwat's comments and said it was against any such review.

"It is high time to find out whether the castes for whom reservation was provided have benefitted from it. It also needed to be found out that whether the castes receiving benefits of reservation need it in future.

"VHP has been raising the demand for constituting a judicial commission to review reservation as we consider it to be a national issue rather than a political matter," Jain said.

He however insisted that the VHP never sought "doing away with reservation".

He blamed "petty politics" for the criticism of Bhagwat's call and said the formation of a "non political" commission will sideline those indulging in politics over the issue.

Jain said that VHP believed that after formation of a judicial commission, its recommendations need to be placed before people for a public debate. Afterwards, it should be discussed in Parliament for a final decision on need of reservation.

Pointing to the demands of reservation by castes like Patels and Jats, Jain said even those communities which were socially and economically strong have demanded benefits of reservation which, he added, was a "bad omen" for society.