Quota will not be diluted, minister assures assembly

Opposition says no mention of reservation in advertisement for appointments in five new medical colleges

LUCKNOW: Parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna on Friday assured the Opposition that the state government would implement reservation as per rules in all the appointments, and the roster denying quota would be amended. Khanna gave the assurance in the state assembly while replying to a motion that leader of opposition Ram Gobind Chaudhary moved in the house about denial of quota in appointments being made in new medical colleges.

“We will amend the order and reservation as per rule will be implemented,” said Khanna. “The SP and the BSP are befooling people in the name of alliance. The BJP government is committed to the provisions of the Constitution. The BJP also respects BR Ambedkar and memorials have been constructed at all the five places associated with him in India and abroad,” he said.

Khanna read out orders issued during the tenure of the SP and the BSP governments to make his point that the attempts to dilute quota had been made during the previous regimes. Chaudhary had earlier pointed out the BJP government was diluting quota by implementing departmentwise roster for reservation in state universities, instead of considering a university as one unit.

“The BJP says the order was issued in 2016. But the BJP was in power at Centre in 2016,” said

Chaudhary. He said the SP and BSP did not oppose the 10% reservation provided for the economically weaker sections. The BJP was, however, diluting the quota for other backward classes and the Dalits, he said.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

leader Lalji Vaerma said appointments for 360 posts in five new medical colleges had begun on February 4. No mention of any reservation had been made in the advertisement published for appointments in these medical colleges, said Verma.