Key report said those who pay tax shouldn’t be given quota

THE 10% QUOTA FOR THE ECONOMICALLY BACKWARD CLASSES WAS APPROVED THIS WEEK BY BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AND NEEDS THE SIGNATURE OF THE PRESIDENT

NEW DELHI/BHOPAL: A report that served as one of the premises for the constitutional amendment that reserves 10% of government jobs and college seats for the poor in the general category had, as far back as eight years, recommended limiting the benefits to non-tax payees and eschewing the income limit applicable to the so-called creamy layer, or rich, among the other backward classes (OBCS).

The 10% quota for the economically backward classes (EBCS) in the general category was approved this week by both houses of parliament and needs the signature of the President to become law.

It was introduced and passed ahead of general elections this year and seen by some analysts as a move to soothe the anger of upper castes over the restoration of some provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) that had been struck down by the Supreme Court .

The report cited as a premise for the quota was prepared by the Commission for Economically Backward Classes, headed by Maj Gen SR Sinho, which underlined deprivation faced by EBCS in the general category and suggested “easy access to various welfare schemes in sectors of education, housing and healthcare and appropriate monitoring measures.”

“I found socially they (ECBS in general category) were well off but educationally and economi- cally they were backward,” Sinho said in an interview in Bhopal. “Especially in border areas they were suffering a lot, like in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast. Then there were people who were affected by natural disasters like Tsunami, earthquake etc. In desert areas like in Rajasthan people from general class are suffering a lot. They don’t have access to proper education and health facilities.”

The report was submitted to the government in 2010, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power, but never been made public. It has been reviewed by Hindustan Times,which tracked down one of the few remaining copies of the report. During a discussion on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, l a w minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made a pointed reference to the panel report suggesting reservation for EBCS in the general category.

Asked why it wasn’t made public, Sinho said: “I don’t know.