Gujarat gives 10 pc quota to EBCs, Patels unimpressed

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Government has decided to provide 10 per cent reservation in educational institutions as well as government jobs  to economically backward upper caste families with an annual income of less than Rs 6 lakh.

An ordinance to this effect will be issued on Gujarat’s Foundation Day on May 1. The 10 per cent reservation will be in addition to the 49 per cent reservation provided to the SCs/STs and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). 

The move, evidently aimed at derailing the reservation stir by the Patels, was promptly rejected by leaders of protesters as “a mere lollipop”. The Sardar Patel Group backing the “Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti” gave conditional support, while the OBC Manch called it a “political decision taken under pressure.” The Congress demanded that the quota be hiked to 20 per cent. 

Patidar leaders said the SC had capped reservation at 49 per cent, but the government claimed it would pass legal scrutiny.  — TNS