Quota row: Talks between govt, docs fail

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was today personally involved in efforts to end the ongoing students' agitation against reservation in higher education, with Health Secretary P Hota holding meetings constantly since morning in three phases with students, interspersed with meetings with the PM. The issue also figured prominently at a meeting the PM had with President A P J Abdul Kalam here.

Speaking at a function to mark the second anniversary of the UPA government today, the PM said, "I request the students to call off their agitation. They should have faith in the government to protect the legitimate interests of all sections of the student community." He added the government would work towards "a fair, just and inclusive" education system and no deserving student would be denied an opportunity.

However, the students said the strike would continue as the government was not accepting their demand to set up a panel to study quota in higher education. Earlier, they had rejected a personal appeal made by the PM on Saturday to withdraw the agitation.

Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh also made an appeal to the students through the media to pay heed to the appeal made by the PM. He said that the students should put their faith in the PM and call off the strike.

Students holding talks with Hota said that since the health secretary had turned down their demand for setting up a committee on quota, their strike would continue.

Meanwhile, the PM is currently looking at a clutch of impossible options submitted by the Group of Ministers formed to help the government out of the crisis set off by the announcement of reservation for OBCs in higher education.

According to sources, the first option is to increase seats equivalent to the additional numbers required for reservation in all institutions. The cost for this is calculated to be Rs 8,000 crore with a recurring cost of Rs 2,000 crore every year. The government fears that this option might eat into funds meant to for the equally vital universalisation of primary education. The second option is said to be to go ahead with reservation in all institutions without bothering to create additional seats to protect general category candidates.

The third option is to go for a phased increase in a matter of two to three years, with a 7 per cent quota in the first phase, followed by a 15 per cent in the next and 20 per cent in the third and so on.

Meanwhile, taking a cue from the HRD minister, Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar today threatened to legislate if the private sector did not provide jobs to weaker sections on its own.

She made the statements, perceived to be out of turn, even when the mandate for deciding on this has been given to a 10-member Group of Ministers by the UPA government.A legislation would be considered if nothing was done voluntarily, she told mediapersons today.

Ironically, a note was sent to the Cabinet last week with signatures of Meira Kumar on behalf of the 10-member Group of Ministers.

The note does not propose any law. In fact, the group empowered to take any decision on reservation of jobs seeks to abdicate responsibility saying it did not have a mandate to suggest a constitutional amendment for job reservation, sources said.

The GoM was constituted as per the common minimum programme of the UPA government and it met five times, with one of the meetings being with the industry. The group is headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.