PM's panel to seek quota solution

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday took a multi-pronged approach to find a solution to the quota crisis. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up an informal committee of four ministers to work out a compromise formula taking into consideration the interests of students of all sections.

The committee, which comprises Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, HRD Minister Arjun Singh, and Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, began deliberations on increasing the number of seats in premier institutions of higher learning. The Centre is considering a 50 per cent increase in the number of seats.

The Centre also persuaded the Forum of OBC MPs to call off its meeting scheduled for Wednesday. The Prime Minister is trying to build a political consensus on the issue (reservation for OBCs in higher education), which has strong backing both within the UPA and outside. Of 543 MPs in the Lok Sabha, about 300 are OBCs. Also, there are about 160 OBC-dominated constituencies in the country.