Education Minister Pradhan accused the opposition of having “double standards” on OBC reservation and said there should be no confusion about the core policy and intent of the Centre.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said caste-based census is a “revolutionary” process and some states have already implemented it.
He also said that the Parliament system is supreme and it has the right to decide policies for the country and make laws for the welfare of the people. The minister was speaking during the debate in Rajya Sabha.
He accused the opposition of having “double standards” on OBC reservation and said there should be no confusion about the core policy and intent of the Centre.
The Upper House was debating the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to restore the power of states to prepare their own OBC lists. The Lok Sabha has already approved the bill.
The education minister said, “Caste census is a revolutionary process in the country. It is not that caste census has not been done. Many states have taken it as the basis.” He said that the Modi government is trying to get all the castes their due. “Therefore it is unnecessary to doubt our intention,” he said.
Some Lok Sabha MPs from the DMK party had met him recently and raised the issue of reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in higher education institutions like IITs and central universities.
“It was news to me,” Pradhan said, when he inquired about the matter and found that till 1989 there was a provision that there would be reservation, but if the vacancy was not filled it would end.
“… if the desired candidate is not available, the quota will expire next year. It was rectified in 2018-19 by the Prime Minister, who ensured that the reservation does not end,” he said.
The present government has implemented 27 percent OBC reservation in NEET medical entrance exam. In addition, it has also implemented reservation for OBCs in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas.
Pradhan said the opposition members were saying that “you have tied our hands by not exceeding 50 per cent on the total reservation”. He said that the decision to prepare caste based census list was taken during the previous government.
“The Social Economy Caste Survey Census was drafted. But it was not implemented within the year 2004 to 2014. We have implemented it,” the minister said.
He said that the Center has used this list in schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Former Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Pradhan also said that during his tenure, 8 crore LPG connections were allotted on the basis of SC/ST list.
He also congratulated the current minister HS Puri for giving one crore new connections on Tuesday.
“When I was the petroleum minister, the BJP government allotted 11,262 LPG distributorships. It not only empowered SCs and STs, but also gave LPG distributorships to provide employment to 2,852 OBC youth. There was no such demand at that time. was created from the government,” he said.
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