By Faraz Ahmad, IANS
New Delhi : National Commission for Minorities (NCM)chairman Syed Hamid Ansari has upheld the decision of India's premier educational institution, St. Stephen's College, to earmark a small percentage of seats for Dalit Christians.
"What St. Stephen's did was perfectly legal. Within the 50 percent quota reserved for Christian students in the college they made a separate allocation for Scheduled Caste Christian students," Ansari, a former diplomat and vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, told IANS in an interview.
"Since the government does not recognize the existence of Scheduled Castes among Muslims and Christians, the authorities asked students wanting to avail themselves of this reservation to secure a certificate from their local bishop."
Ansari said the proposal to reserve seats for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) students in minority institutes was reasonable.
"It only stands to logic," he said.
The proposal to reserve 10 percent seats for Dalit Christians in the college earlier this month has evoked mixed response from its alumni with some fearing that such radical changes would affect the reputation of the 125-year-old institution.
Historian Ramachandra Guha has argued that changes in the reservation of seats needed be made in consultation with the alumni and other stakeholders to ensure the college's intellectual excellence remains unaffected.
Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said that admitting Dalits would not hamper the elite image of the college but resorting to mediocrity may affect it.
Last year the human resources development ministry had moved a proposal to fix reservation for SC, ST and OBC students in privately owned educational institutions but to exclude the minority-run institutes from its purview. Currently, reservation for SC and ST exists in all government bodies and institutions.
However, the process of reservations for various categories in private institutions stands stalled because the Supreme Court has stayed the reservation for OBCs even in government-run institutions.
Recently the government decided to disburse scholarships to 20,000 Muslim students all over the country for graduate and post-graduate studies with greater emphasis on engineering and modern medical education.
Asked whether there had been any discrepancy while handing out these scholarships, Ansari said the Commission had not heard of any inconsistency yet but would provide relief to any deserving person or group that was denied the benefit under the scheme.
Ansari pointed out that the Commission was keeping a close watch on the situation in Gujarat ahead of assembly elections, due in December, and also on the condition of minorities in the state.
"The Commission steps into the picture only when a complaint is made and if minorities have genuine grievances," said the NMC chairman.
(Faraz Ahmad can be contacted at [email protected])