North India Statesman
[ad_1]
Congress demands reservation: The Congress has also demanded reservation in private colleges. Jairam Ramesh, head of the Congress Communication Cell, made this demand on Monday. He demanded this in support of the recommendation of a parliamentary committee, stating that OBC, SC and ST categories should also be given reservation in private colleges under Article 15 (5) of the Constitution. Interestingly, this issue was raised about 20 years ago and even after the constitution amendment, the then UPA-1 government had retreated. The Congress was leading this government. The 93rd amendment was made to the Constitution during the UPA government, in which Article 15 (5) was added.
The UPA government passed the Central Educational Institute Act in 2006 under this provision. Reservation was implemented in government higher education institutions, but there was no such provision for private colleges and universities. Jairam Ramesh said that the case was also heard in the Supreme Court in 2008, which retained it. The court also said that the question of reservation in admission in private non-aasted institutions can also be considered. Now after almost two decades, the Congress has again raised the demand that reservation in admission in private institutions should be implemented, on which it was silent in her time.
The Congress issued a statement saying that it has become clear from the court’s decision that people of SC, ST and OBC community can get reservation in constitutionally private institutions. Even in the 2024 general elections, the Congress promised this reservation in its manifesto. Now that the Parliamentary Committee has also recommended similar objections, the Congress has reiterated that demand. This committee is headed by Congress MP Digvijay Singh. At present, caste -based reservation is not applicable in any private educational institute of the country. However, experts believe that reservation cannot be applied only on Article 15 (5). To do this, another law is required to support it.
However, while hearing a case in 2002, the Supreme Court had said that it is a fundamental right to establish an educational institution. Apart from this, it is also the right of the institute to decide what the admission process will be. Experts believe that the number of tier-one private universities in the country has increased. In view of this, children of disadvantaged groups should also be given priority in admission. It needs. There is no response from the central government on the demand of the Congress so far.
