By TCN News,
New Delhi: Popular Front of India has welcomed the key provisions of Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 which was tabled Thursday in the Lok Sabha. PFI has lauded the Central Government for providing constitutional status to the anti-graft ombudsman and reserving 50% of members of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas for SCs/STs, OBCs, Women and Minorities.
“The inclusion of reservation for minorities, an omission in the original bill, was made possible due to the strong intervention of BC party leaders like Mulayam Sing Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav. At the same time, it is strange enough to note that with the exemption of MIM, those MPs who claim to represent Muslims and other minorities proved their lack of interest in this vital issue also. The reactionary stand taken by BJP and its allies on the minority issue has once again illustrated their core ideology of minority hate,” said PFI in a statement and urged the Team Anna to come out with their opinion on the issue of providing minority quota in Lokpal.
While welcoming the sub-quota for backward minorities within the existing OBC reservation quota, PFI said the decision of Union Cabinet to provide 4.5% out of the 27 % OBC quota for minorities “is quite inadequate, since it amounts only to 1/4 of the total population percentage of religious minorities in the country.” Popular Front reiterated its earlier demand of 13.5% sub quota for minorities and 10% from it for Muslims.
The group has asked Muslim organizations to continue their struggle for declaring all Muslims all over India as a backward community in order to make them all eligible for OBC reservation.
Meanwhile, the Central Secretariat called upon all political parties, especially Dalit-Backward Caste based SP, RJD, BSP and LJP not to object the decision of the Union Cabinet, as it is an initial step towards separate quota for Muslims. Popular Front reminded the Central Government to immediately issue an Executive Order that is fool proof, without giving any scope for judicial and other interventions.