Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: November 14, 2006
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cong_owns_up_to_proposals_for_job_quota/articleshow/432829.cms
Some of the mist over Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's promise of "fair share" for minorities in government jobs
could be lifting. Congress on Monday took ownership of proposals for quota
benefits for Dalit Muslims and Christians aired by two senior Congress leaders
A R Antulay and Veerappa Moily.
Antulay, who is minister for minority affairs,
and Moily, chairman of Administrative Reforms Commission, have spoken in favour
of reservations for Muslims. Antulay advocated inclusion of Dalit Muslims
in the SC/ST quota frame.
Moily, who is also a member of CWC, said reservation
for Muslims should have been included in the Constitution. Even as Congress
maintains that it is opposed to reservations based on religious lines there
is a legal bar to implementing such a proposal it has begun to take ownership
of proposals to expand access of minorities to quotas.
Though the PM's office had been quick to state,
albeit off the record, that "fair share" did not mean quotas, enlarging
the reservation envelope for minorities is pretty much part of Congress's
strategic thinking.
Given that a bid by Congress-ruled Andhra
Pradesh's move to reserve 5% jobs for Muslims was stayed by the high court
and this has not been vacated by Supreme Court, the party's thinking seems
to be to nibble around the judicial bar. The attempt to stir a debate on reservations
for Dalit Muslims and Christians is a step in that direction.
BJP lashed at what it called a blatant attempt
to implement communal reservations. Terming the move as "another shameful
attempt" to enforce communal quotas, BJP chief Rajnath Singh said that
the political design was unfortunate in view of the recent judicial pause
on the Andhra proposal.
"We are in favour of justice to all deprived
sections of society including those of minority communities, but any attempt
to provide reservations to the followers of an entire religion seems non-substantive
and misleading," Singh said.
The BJP chief accused the government of "suffering
from the obsession of minoritism" by resorting to exercises like a Muslim
headcount in the Army and toying with the idea of "communal reservations"
in government services.
Not all sections in Congress welcome the quota
pitch as some AICC office-bearers are uneasy that an overdrive for minority
quotas would only result in a polarisation in favour of BJP, as was seen in
the recent UP mayoral elections.
There is also a feeling that some leaders
like HRD minister Arjun Singh are playing to a personal agenda. But Congress
said that it would talk with other UPA constituents about extending reservations
to the socially backward among Muslims.
"Had we come to power on our own, we
would have the liberty to take a decision," said party spokesman Satyavrat
Chaturvedi. He said being the coalition leader, Congress would hold talks
with its allies. "We have to consult our partners and we will do it,"
Chaturvedi said.
"What Moily and Antulay have said is
very much in Congress manifesto," he said. He went further and sought
to make the point that this had been "the classical Congress stand".
