The forum also wants the government to constitute a Parliamentary Standing Committee on OBCs to take care of the interests of the social section. "We want reservations in the judicial services also, as our proportion in those positions is negligible. We need someone from our communities in the judiciary, who will understand our situation and problems," V Hanumantha Rao, president of the forum and Congress MP told Business Standard after a marathon meeting held here today. |
The forum wants a standing committee to be formed on the lines of those for SC/STs in Parliament.
"While there are constitutional bodies in place to protect the interests of SCs and STs, the OBCs do not have any such body. We want a Parliamentary Standing Committee on OBCs to be constituted which would serve as a forum to assert our rights," Rao said.
Rao also wants discussions over including the OBC quota in the Ninth Schedule, so that it is be free from judicial scrutiny.
"While the Constitution provides reservations for socially and economically backward sections, the Supreme Court has given a new interpretation to the quotas by insisting on the economic criteria as a measure of backwardness," he said.
Rao also said that there is a need to look into the drawbacks or any other factors which would affect the implementation of the quota. A discussion in the parliament on the quota troubles is also demanded by the members.
According to sources present in the meeting attended by about 40-50 OBC MPs, there were a wide range of issues raised by the members, some even differing in their opinion.
"While some of the members wanted the concept of the creamy layer to be removed altogether, some said that the ceiling could be raised to a realistic level so that all the needy within the community could avail the reservations," an OBC MP told Business Standard.
"In the present situation, even a normal worker in government sector earns more than what is set as the limit for the creamy layer. If we take that criteria, these OBC quotas would serve none," Madhu Goud Yaskhi, a Congress MP from Nizamabad said.
Sources said that several members raised the issue of lack of unity among the OBC people and the MPs in particular. "We are a group of more than 150 OBC MPs, but only about 50 attended the meeting, which calls for much larger attention," one MP said.
