CWC demands increase in upper quota limit

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, September 16

The Congress on Saturday demanded increasing the existing upper limit of reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), in a resolution passed in its meeting held in Hyderabad today, expressed concern at increasing unemployment and said the Rozgar Melas were hoax to cover up the abject failure to create jobs.

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“The CWC also underlines the stubborn refusal of the Modi government to conduct a caste census. This refusal in the face of a universal demand has exposed the BJP’s lack of commitment to social and economic justice and its bias against the backward classes, Dalits and tribal people. In this context, the CWC also calls for increasing the existing upper limit of reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs,” the resolution

(No 7) adopted by CWC stated.

The meeting, first since it was reconstituted by the party president Mallikarjun Kharge, passed a total of 17 resolutions, including three condolence resolutions. Presided over by Kharge, the meeting was attended by all three Gandhis (Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka) besides other senior party leaders. Another resolution passed by the CWC said the “one nation, one election” proposal by the Modi government was yet another brazen attack on the federal structure of the country. The CWC accused the Modi government of misusing the office of Governor

and “creating roadblocks in implementing schemes and programmes in Opposition-governed states”.

It charged the Modi government with trying to scuttle the food security scheme in Congress-ruled Karnataka by stopping the FCI from selling rice to states. Similarly, emergency funds were not being given to Himachal Pradesh despite it being hit by unprecedented floods and landslide because the Congress was in power in the state, the Congress’s top decision-making body noted.

The CWC also summarily rejected the call for a new Constitution and the argument that the basic structure of the Constitution can be changed. “The Modi government’s assault on the Constitution must be condemned and resisted by all democratic forces to safeguard the foundational ideas of the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar and his compatriots,” the CWC said.

In another resolution, it said the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment etc) Bill introduced in Parliament will severely compromise the independence of the Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections.