By IANS
New Delhi : As consternation spread in campuses all over the country after the Supreme Court upheld additional quotas in institutes of higher learning, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh said Thursday that the verdict would not affect “any other category of students”.
The minister assured students that the percentage of seats would be increased in places like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIM).
“It is a historic judgment. Thousands of OBC students will benefit. The government has already decided that it will not affect any other category of students,” he told reporters.
Reiterating the government stance, he said: “There won’t be any clash of interests. No one will be excluded.”
The Supreme Court Thursday upheld 27 percent reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) in government-run institutions of higher education.
The issue has been an emotive one. In December 2006, parliament unanimously passed a legislation enabling reservations for OBCs, prompting massive protests across the country.