OBC quota Bill may become law today

New Delhi: The amended quota Bill prescribing 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in all Central educational institutions - including IITs and IIMs - will be tabled in Parliament on Thursday and, in all likelihood, it will be passed as law.

In spite of all the protests, debates and deliberations, the Creamy Layer is also likely to be extended the benefits of reservation. However, a clause in the Bill does specify that Creamy Layer candidates can avail reservation only if the seats cannot be filled with regular OBC candidates.

The Bill also specifies that minority institutions should offer reservation to OBCs within that particular community and the quota of reserved seats will be reviewed from time to time on the basis of a regular survey of the OBCs.

The Reservation Bill, called Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006, had been tabled in Parliament on August 25 during the last session and the House had sent it to a Standing Committee for review. The Standing Committee had suggested some amendments to the Bill. The committee had presented its 186th report to Rajya Sabha on December 1, 2006 and tabled the report in Lok Sabha on the same day.

However, the Centre rejected some of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, including the one to exclude the Creamy Layer from the purview of the quota. The government said the amendment Bill will have only certain consequential changes on the basis of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee to the extent acceptable to the Government.

The amendments prescribe 27 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in Central educational institutions.

In its report, the House Committee apparently agreed with Veerappa Moily on the Creamy Layer issue. Moily, who headed the Oversight Committee to prepare a roadmap to implement quota, had earlier told the committee that inclusion of Creamy Layer would result in reserved seats being pre-empted by OBCs from higher income group.

“Almost all rural and urban OBCs from northern, central and eastern regions would be deprived,” the report said. And, apparent beneficiaries would be OBCs from southern states who have been empowered due to consistent reservation policy.

The issue of exclusion of Creamy Layer had divided the ruling UPA. While Left parties favoured exclusion of Creamy Layer, UPA allies like DMK and PMK strongly opposed any such move. Finally, the Government decided to extend OBC reservation to all, including Creamy Layer, through this Bill.