The Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar slammed the Centre over the recent Constitution Amendment to restore the powers of states to have their own lists of OBCs for reservation in jobs and educational institutions. Pawar said the Centre has cheated the OBCs as unless and until the 50% quota limit imposed by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case was relaxed, states would not be able to prepare and maintain their own list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs). Pawar strongly demanded that the Centre should conduct case base census, provide empirical data to states and raise the cap on reservation above 50%.
Pawar said as the Centre has been silent over relaxing the 50% quota limit the Maharashtra Government won’t be in a position to restore 12% quota in education and 13% in government jobs to the Maratha community which was scrapped by the apex court on May 5. He further stated the Centre three years ago took away the rights of states to prepare and maintain their own list of SEBCs and now they have been restored. In the meanwhile, a 10% quota for economically weaker sections was provided by the Centre.
‘’Almost 90% of states have crossed the 50% quota limit. In Maharashtra the reservation under various categories is up to almost 65%. In view of the present situation, the NCP will soon launch an exercise to mobilise the public opinion to raise the cap on reservation above 50% and thereby reach out to the youths and college students who are currently in a confused state of mind. Centre’s move to amend the Constitution is similar to inviting for a lunch with tied hands,’’ he noted.
‘’In Maharashtra, the NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal has been repeatedly demanding that the Centre should provide an empirical data which will help the state to conduct surveys to prepare its own SEBC list. During the UPA II, the Centre had initiated steps to share empirical data with the state and also about conducting the caste based census but it was put on the backburner by the Modi government,’’ said Pawar. He opined that the caste based census will also help provide equal opportunities in education and jobs to OBCs.
Pawar recalled that BJP MP Sanghamitra Maurya made a strong case for caste based census citing that even cattle have been counted in several states. However, he was asked to keep quiet by the ruling party. ‘’One MP has spoken in favour of caste based census, the number will increase to 10 and the Constitution subsequently can be further amended with two third majority relaxing the 50% ceiling on quota,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Pawar alleged that the MPs including two women MPs were manhandled in the elder’s house and nearly 40 marshals were deployed who exercised force against the Rajya Sabha members who were demanding that Insurance Bill be referred to the joint select committee for further discussion. ‘’In my 55 years of parliamentary career I had never seen such an incident where 40 marshals were brought in the house and they used force against the MPs. Some MPs have claimed that the ruling party had brought some outsiders in the upper house that needs to be probed. As the ruling party’s argument was weak, it deployed 7 to 8 ministers to counter the opposition,’’ he added.
On the establishment of an experts committee to probe Pegasus spyware snooping, Pawar said senior MPs including P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Sainghvi have an in-depth knowledge in this issue and one of them should be included in the committee.
As far as the situation in Afghanistan is concerned, Pawar said the situation seems to be quite dangerous after the Taliban took over the control of Kabul. He however, suggested that the Centre needs to take a long term view as the new rulers have said they would like to maintain cordial relations with India.
Pawar in a letter congratulated Chairman of Serum Institute of India, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla on being honoured with the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2021. "Amidst this COVID19 pandemic, the Covishield vaccine has proved to be a life saviour", Pawar said in the letter.
