By IANS,
New Delhi : The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday dubbed as a pre-poll stunt the government’s move providing 4.5 percent sub-quota for minorities within the 27 percent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The party totally rejected the idea of religion-based reservation and said the step would divide the country.
The decision for a quota within quota is wrong. We are against religion-based quotas. The backward castes should get social justice but such religion-based quotas are not correct for social equality,? Kumar said.
Another BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, meanwhile, said the step would divide people on the basis of caste and religion.
This is a cheating our constitution. This government wants to cause a civil war in the country in the name of caste and religion,? Naqvi said.
In what is being seen as a pre-poll move ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections next year, the government decided to create a 4.5 percent sub-quota for backward minorities within the 27 percent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
The decision was approved by the union cabinet Thursday in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
However, the Congress Friday rejected the opposition’s allegation that the 4.5 percent sub-quota for backward minorities was a poll stunt, saying it was the government’s responsibility to help the backward sections.
Talking to reporters here, general secretary Digvijay Singh said the reservation was otherwise not proving beneficial for minorities.
“They have been given a fixed quota so that the backward minorities can get 4.5 percent out of the 27 percent reserved for backward castes. Earlier they were left out of the benefits of quota,” he said.
“It was a poll promise which we have fulfilled,” Digvijay Singh said.
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said it would help backward Muslims come into the mainstream.
“Appeasement is when you give something extra to someone… government has taken this historical step. It will help backward Muslims to come into the mainstream of the country,” he said.
“This is the responsibility of any government to support and help the backward,” he said.
In what is being seen as a pre-poll move ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections next year, the government decided to create a 4.5 percent sub-quota for backward minorities within the 27 percent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
The decision was approved by the union cabinet Thursday in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.