Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh has said the Supreme Court judgment upholding 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) %u201Cvindicates%u201D his position.
"This is very historic judgment. Hundreds of students belonging to OBC category will be benefited by it," said Singh, who introduced the plan to reserve seats for OBCs in Central educational institutes two years ago.
%u201CI feel vindicated. I have been fighting for this when I was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. People have misunderstood reservation,%u201D said Singh after the court%u2019s decision.
%u201CIt is a historic judgment, particularly on the creamy layer,%u201D he told CNN-IBN. The Centre would ensure that the law providing for 27 per cent quota is implemented from the coming academic session.
"I am sure all people who want equity in access to higher education will support this judgment," Singh, adding reservation for OBCs would not affect other students. %u201CThere is no clash of interest". Singh thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Sing and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for supporting him. On the Supreme Court excluding the creamy layer among the OBCs from the purview of the quota, the HRD minister said it would have some problem and the issue would have to be sorted out.The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld 27 per cent reservations for OBCs in higher educational institutions like the Indian Institutes of Management and Indian Institutes of Technology.
