Parliamentary panel bats for SC, ST quotas in pvt institutes

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said the Modi government could no longer ignore the “legitimate demand” for caste-based reservation in private institutes of higher education.

His remarks came after a bipartisan parliamentary panel called for statutory quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in such institutions.

The Standing Committee on Education, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, tabled its report in Parliament on Wednesday. Singh highlighted that despite constitutional backing, the representation of SC, ST and OBC students remained “abysmally low” in private institutions.

Article 15(5), inserted through the 93rd Constitutional Amendment in 2006 under the UPA government, empowers Parliament to mandate reservations in private higher educational institutions. The Supreme Court upheld its validity in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust v Union of India case (2014). Yet, no law has been enacted to implement it.

The committee reviewed the student profile of three private Institutions of Eminence recognised by the Centre. The data revealed that only 0.89 per cent of students were from SC communities, 0.53 per cent from ST communities, and 11.16 per cent from OBC groups.

Calling these figures a reflection of entrenched exclusion, the panel unanimously proposed 15 per cent reservations for SCs, 7.5 per cent for STs and 27 per cent for OBCs, aligning with the system in public universities.

Ramesh said the report had given “renewed impetus” to the Congress’s 2024 manifesto promise to make laws on the issue. “The ball is now in the Modi government’s court,” he said.