'Time for higher education to expand and accommodate'

Q&A: Veerappa Moily, chairman of the Oversight Committee on OBC quotas

As someone who headed the Oversight Committee on OBC quota, do you feel vindicated by the SC verdict?

I am so relieved. When the OBC quota was announced, there were widespread protests all over the country. Everyone said it cannot be implemented.

The prime minister announced (the setting up of) the Oversight Committee to come out with a strategy to implement the quota. Subsequently, we interacted with directors of various higher institutes of learning like IIMs and IITs.

Based on their feedback, we came out with a detailed plan. Though the higher education institutes agreed to implement the quota, it was questioned in the Supreme Court. I am very happy that the Supreme Court has upheld our decision.

What about the exclusion of the creamy layer?

Exclusion of the creamy layer will definitely help the deserving candidates. If the creamy layer was not excluded, children of politicians, civil servants and income-tax payers among OBCs who do not require reservation for their studies could have hampered the prospects of genuine candidates. Now, the quota will benefit the most deserving students.

Don't you think the Dalits deserved a bigger share than the OBCs?

I don't think so. The Dalits are taken care of through various reservation schemes. We announced this quota only after studying the student intake in institutes of higher learning. This quota will not snatch any reservation from the Dalits.

What about reservation in southern states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which have already initiated it? Do you think the quota will have any impact there?

Of course, it will have an impact wherever central government institutions and private institutions depending on government aid are located. It will benefit OBC students pursuing higher education.

What, according to you, is the best model of reservation in the country?

Since we are in a federal set-up, there are different reservation schemes announced by the states and the Centre. So far, the schemes have been working well, producing the desired results. Besides, there have been judgments by various courts. Every scheme is being introduced in accordance with the Constitution.

Is there a provision to reduce the number of reserved seats as the years go by? Is there a time limit for the quota exercise?

There is no provision to reduce the number of reserved seats or set a time limit. It will not work that way. We will look at it in two ways. We are not just forcing the higher educational institutes to accommodate OBC students.

We are creating additional infrastructure in these institutes to make space for more students. It will be a win-win situation for both -- OBC students and the institutes.

Look at Harvard and MIT, they have expanded 300-400 per cent since inception. But IIMs and IITs have hardly expanded by 4 per cent since they were set up.

The country needs more students with a higher education background. But there is no capacity to create that pool. Excellence cannot be found in islands. It is like this, we get a wide variety of fish if we go to the ocean but options in a pond are limited. Besides, this is the right opportunity for higher education to expand and accommodate.

Has there been any effort to prepare the OBC students for these higher education institutes?

We are taking certain steps in this direction. We have directed all states to provide scholarships to OBC students who have crossed the ninth standard. The Centre is evolving similar schemes. There are also several scholarship programmes for the OBCs.

In the absence of anything to pull up the OBC students into higher education, don't you think these quotas are redundant and just meant to provide political mileage to the government?

We cannot jump to such conclusions. We have seen reservations working for the deprived classes. We have to continue this support till there is inclusive growth. It will benefit the entire population. We cannot ensure comprehensive development of the country by denying education to those who cannot afford it, particularly higher education.