Karat meets PM on reservations

NEW DELHI: Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and suggested that reservations should benefit the poor among the SC/STs and OBCs, and sought an increase in the number of seats to benefit the needy among those who do not fall under the reservation category.

 

"We want the government to evolve a consensus on all these issues and regulate all private educational institutions to check crass commercialisation of higher education," Karat said after a 30-minute meeting with the prime minister.

 

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee was present at the meeting.

 

"The government should prepare a proposal to be put up for a public debate so that the widest agreement is reached before it is taken up for implementation," he said.
    
He demanded exclusion of the "creamy layer" in the SC/ST and OBC category from reservations and sought an increase in the number of seats so that students coming from weak and poor backgrounds and do not come in the reservation categories are separately allocated seats.