Govt considering increase in SC quota, says Meira

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Meira Kumar is apparently trying to do an Arjun Singh on the UPA regime, which is already on a sticky wicket on the issue of reservation for the OBCs in higher educational institutions.

In a move that will only add fuel to quota fire, the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry is "favourably" mulling over a proposal to raise reservation for Scheduled Castes from the existing 15 per cent to 16.23 per cent following the increase in their population.

The ministry also wants the children of Dalit women who married out of their caste to get reservation benefits to ensure gender equality.

"We should increase the quantum of reservation for the SCs in the wake of the increase in their population. I am favourably considering it," said the minister.

It is necessary as the 2001 Census had put the Dalit share of population at 16.23 per cent, as against 15 per cent in the 1961 Census, she said. The SC quota, pegged at 12.5 per cent in 1953, had been raised to 15 per cent in 1970 in light of the 1961 Census.

The ministry's proposal will not only further provoke the students agitating over the OBC quota issue, but is also unlikely to stand judicial scrutiny. The proposed move, if implemented, will exceed the 50 per cent reservation limit fixed by the Supreme Court.

Besides the increase in population, Kumar said, as many as 68 more castes and one religion - Buddhism - had been included in the SC category, resulting in an increase in the numbers.

"Therefore, it is justifiable to increase the quantum of reservation for the SCs," she said.