Congress to push for removal of 50% ceiling on reservation

With the quota space shrinking at a rapid rate, Congress is set to ratchet up pressure for removal of 50% ceiling on reservation and push for quotas in the big projects outsourced by govt. The decision came as the party decided to hold consultations within and outside on sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes to finalise its stance in the wake of the recent Supreme Court judgment.
A brainstorming by Congress brass led by Mallikarjun Kharge with key leaders decided to hold extensive dialogue with party’s state units, chief ministers, INDIA bloc allies as also civil society for feedback on the sensitive issue.
Sources said the meeting elicited individual views of participants. Many of them criticised the judgment’s extension of “creamy layer” concept to the SCs and STs. Meanwhile, in Lok Sabha, DMK’s A Raja slammed “creamy layer” for SCs/STs and urged govt to introduce safeguards to protect the rights of the two communities in the light of the court judgment.
The participants discussed the pros and cons of sub-classification while also quoting the views of BSP’s Mayawati and BJP ally LJP’s Chirag Paswan -both have opposed it.
The meeting included Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Abhishek Singhvi, Vivek Tankha, Charanjit Channi, Kumari Selja, PL Punia, Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Surjewala, Udit Raj, Rajesh Lilothia, Nasir Hussain and Jairam Ramesh.
While Congress, like other parties, is treading with caution on sub-categorisation, party insiders felt there was need to up the pressure on other fronts where the longstanding reservation pie is shrinking. Udit Raj said the party will renew its call that the bar of 50% on total SC/ST/OBC reservation should be relaxed through a constitutional amendment.
Also, Congress will ask govt to fill “backlog vacancies” and institute quotas in outsourced projects - the logic being that outsourcing of govt work is leading to erosion of reservation available in govt appointments. There is also likely to be increased rhetoric against privatisation of PSUs.