The CPI(M) today termed the Union Cabinet's decision to provide a sub-quota of 4.5% for minorities as "most inadequate" and "tokenism", and sought a constitutional amendment to implement 15% reservation for minorities.
"The UPA government has taken this step which smacks of tokenism and has been resorted to keeping the Uttar Pradesh elections in view," the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement.
Terming the decision to provide 4.5% reservation for minorities within the 27% OBC quota as "most inadequate", it said the decision does not reflect the main recommendation of the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission Report.
The Commission had recommended implementation of 10% reservation for Muslims and five% for other minorities based on the socially and economically backward criteria.
"To enable this, necessary constitutional amendment should be undertaken," the CPI(M) said.
