New Delhi, May 15
Threatened with the nationwide stir by medical students on the reservation issue getting intensified, the government tonight said it would evolve a consensus on the quota issue, and find a mechanism to take care of the interests of all sections of society.

“We will ensure a mechanism in which the interests of all sections of society are taken care of,” Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters after a 90-minute meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) which discussed the issue.

He said ‘‘details are being worked out and will be announced shortly’’. It is believed that the government is finding it difficult to backtrack on its stand on reservation for OBCs in educational institutions after Parliament passed an amendment in the Constitution in this regard.

The CCPA reviewed the whole situation, including the ongoing agitation of the medical students.

“You are aware that the Constitution has been amended to provide reservation to Other Backward Classes”, he said.

Government is worried over the anti-quota stir intensifying in different parts of the country. However, political observers said there were limited options for the government to come out of this crisis. These include raising the number of seats in higher education institutions, barring the OBC creamy layer from getting reservation benefits and decreasing the presentation of reservation of seats for the OBCs, while implementing the reservation.