‘Quota for denotified tribes impractical’
23 Sep 2008: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: In a departure from its ¶trigger happy¶ image on quota issues, the social justice ministry has expressed strong reservations on a constitutional amendment to create a new category for denotified tribes with a separate 10% quota by breaching the 50% ceiling on reservations.
The ministry has termed the recommendations of a commission set up to suggest ways for empowerment of denotified tribes (DNT) and nomadic groups as impractical, listing reasons why its suggestion on a string of constitutional amendments had to be ignored.
Sources said the ministry has also decided to tell the Cabinet that the commission had exceeded its brief as its terms of reference did not expressly ask it to examine and recommend amendments to the statute.
In its report, the commission suggested that 10% quota be earmarked for DNTs after the Constitution is amended to create a fresh scheduled community. It said the DNTs should be deleted from the list of SC/ST/OBC in which they fall after changes in the statute are made. It said these tribes had failed to take benefits available for tribals or Dalits or backwards. It also demanded that ¶political reservation¶ as available for SC/ST/OBCs be also extended to them.
But the social justice ministry, seen by many in the government as proactive on quota issues, has taken a stand which could warm the cockles of UPA managers wary of another quota conundrum. The issue of private sector reservation as also the suggestion to increase the quota for SCs from 15% to 16.23% in proportion to their population did not find favour with the government.
While the private sector quota has been handed over to a PMO panel, the hike in SC quota has been put in deep freeze. While leaving the DNT issue for the Cabinet ¶to reject rightaway¶ or to go for ¶wider consultations before a decision is taken¶, the MSJ has noted it would not be very practical to accept the commission’s suggestions.
It is felt that the idea to create a new category was not sound as 97% of DNTs and 84% of nomadic groups were already part of SC or ST or OBC list. The ministry said removal of obstacles was a better way to take development benefits to these sections than by creating a new category.
There are serious doubts if a bulk of DNTs would want to leave the assured benefits as SC/ST/OBCs for the uncertainty of what could accrue to them as a new category.
The ministry, sources said, is wary that acceding to the commission’s suggestions would lead to reintroduction of caste-based census. The Registrar General has opposed a survey to ascertain OBC numbers but it would be a must to quantify the population of DNTs and nomads. It is argued that political reservation for DNTs may not be feasible as the delimitation of constituencies had just been concluded after 30 years.
The idea for a separate national commission on the lines of that for SCs and STs has not found favour with the MSJ as it is felt that the panel on DNTs had not given adequate evidence of largescale atrocities against them.
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