No need to review quota policy: Sharad

Linking the suicide of dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula to "caste disrimination", Janata Dal (United) today said there is no need for reviewing the existing reservation policy in government jobs and education, while calling the incident a "national shame".

"The limit of 10 years was not laid down for reservations in education and employment," party President Sharad Yadav insisted.

In a statement, he said, "Only political reservations (seats reserved in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies) were to be reserved for 10 years and the policy review was to be made after that as mentioned by Babasaheb B R Ambedkar, and that is why after every 10 years, the Parliament extends political reservations."

Yadav's remarks came against the backdrop of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's Saturday statement in Gujarat that dalit icon B R Ambedkar had put the cap on reservation for 10 years.

Mahajan had reportedly said in Gandhinagar "B R Ambedkarji had said that give reservations for 10 years and after 10 years do a rethink."

She had, however, later explained she was not expressing an opinion against reservations.

"I am not against giving reservations. But, we have to think why we have not been able to achieve same level for all, as per the wish of Ambedkar. And that is the reality. What I am saying is why should we not discuss this thing in the Parliament," Mahajan had later said.

Yadav said even after about 70 years of independence, social and economic disparity has not been eliminated and the people belonging to underprivileged and deprived sections of the society are still suffering from this "disease".

"The height of caste discrimination is clear even today from the case of suicide of Rohith Vemula, a dalit student in the University of Hyderabad, against which Baba Saheb Ambedkar started his fight before independence," he said.

Noting that the policy of reservation is being used as a strategy to overcome discrimination and as a compensatory exercise, Yadav said a large section of our society was historically denied right to property, education, business and civil rights because of discrimination on caste basis.

"In order to compensate for the historical denial and have safeguards against discrimination we have the reservation policy," he said.

During last year's Bihar Assembly election, Yadav's party had made a big issue out of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh Chief Mohan Bhagwat's remarks that appeared to favour a review of the reservation system.

Yadav said he wants to emphasise that Baba Saheb left his religion due to inequalities in the society and "today Rohith Vemula committed suicide due to the same inequality" shows that deprived sections are still suffering from the same centuries' old disease".