Govt open to providing OBC quota on lines of SC/ST reservation

In a bid to bring on board parties which are opposing the Women's Reservation Bill in its present form, government today said it was open to evolving a national consensus for granting reservation to the OBCs on the lines provided to SCs and STs.

"Reservation is provided to SCs and STs in Lok Sabha with constitutional amendment but no such reservation exists for OBCs.... Unless that happens we cannot do it in case of Women Reservation...that's a different arena," law minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters outside Parliament.

He added that the parties, which are opposing the Bill and are demanding quota within quota, can extend their support to the Bill and then think of the "larger canvas for providing reservation to OBCs in both Houses (Lok Sabha and State Assemblies)".

He said that supporting the Bill "does not prevent them from taking up the larger issue of reservation for OBCs in general.

"If they are very keen on the issue of OBC representation, they should first try to build a national consensus for reserving seats for OBC men and women in general for both Houses....that stands logic but their present demand does not stand any logic," Moily, who himself belongs to the backward classes said.

Moily's statement is significant in view of the fact that the Women's Reservation Bill has been hanging fire for over a decade with major parties from Hindi belt opposing it on the ground that it should have quota within quota for OBCs.