Chidambaram said the debate on reservation is ongoing — what are the limits of reservation, what are the opportunities that are being thrown open by reservation, what are goals that can be achieved through reservation.
Union home minister P Chidamabaram today said reservation was perhaps the most effective instrument of affirmative action but his colleague Salman Khurshid felt the need to go beyond with the country moving into a different development paradigm.
"If there is a better instrument we should certainly debate that instrument but I believe that reservation is perhaps the most effective instrument for affirmative action that we have today," said Chidambaram addressing the conference of state minority commissions here.
Minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid, whose ministry is the nodal ministry looking after the Rangnath Misra commission report that advocated reservations for Muslims and other minorities, however, struck a different note.
"Now that India is moving into a different development paradigm and a different economic paradigm, we need to go beyond reservation. The affirmative action that has been considered at the PM's initiative for the SCs and STs can also be used for the benefit of backwards among minorities and minorities generally," Khurshid said.
He said the process for this affirmative action has already begun and cited the 15-point Programme as an example.
"Now in banking sector, we are looking at 13% priority sector loans going to minorities this year. While, 15% is our target. Similarly, other development funds that goes out from the Centre are also subjected to a financial and physical target of 15%. This will have its own impact," he said.
Chidambaram said the debate on reservation is ongoing — what are the limits of reservation, what are the opportunities that are being thrown open by reservation, what are goals that can be achieved through reservation. The debate will not end soon, he said.
He said reservation has three aspects — the first is the issue of reservation for socially, educationally and economically backward classes which are sanctified in the Constitution, the second is the desirability and need for compartmental reservation and the third is the ceiling on reservation as placed by the Supreme Court.
"I think the debate on reservation must take into account all these aspects and we must find ways and means by which reservation can be used as an instrument to advance affirmative action," he said.
Incidentally, Congress and the government has so far remained ambivalent on the issue of implementation of the Rangnath Misra commission report.
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