NDTV

New Delhi, May 24: The government has announced that the 27 per cent OBC quota in central universities will be implemented from June 2007.

From the next academic session 27 per cent seats in centrally controlled education institutions- including those aided by the Centre, will go to OBC candidates.

A bill to that effect will be introduced in the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, giving the UPA a little time to build consensus on the reservation issue.

"The percentage of reservation for OBCs will be fixed at 27 per cent. Legislation for this purpose will be brought in Parliament in the Monsoon Session," said Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister.

The decision is likely to alienate the middle class, which is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's core constituency.

Anti-reservation protests are set to snowball. The Indian Medical Association has already called for a Delhi bandh on Thursday and a dilli chalo protest march on May 28.

Time bound implementation

The timing of the announcement comes as a surprise. Till Monday, the Prime Minister was appealing to the anti-quota protestors to end the stir.

While the Monsoon Session is two months away, it seems by making an early announcement the government is hoping to get opinions from all spheres before introducing a bill in Parliament.

To draw up a road map for time bound implementation of the decision:

The government will constitute an Oversight Committee.
Discussions will be held with VCs and Directors of institutions.
A report will be filed by August 21.
The government however, is silent on the Left's demand for keeping out the creamy layer.

Increased seats

Compared to 1990 when former Prime Minister V P Singh had launched the Mandal commission, the government, this time around, has tried to come across as politically correct by promising increased seats to general candidates protesting on the streets.

But increasing seats is easier said than done.

Institutes like the Delhi University have already made it clear that there is no money for adding seats. This is perhaps the reason why the government is silent on how and when seats will be added.

Essentially Mandal II reserves seats in educational institutions while V P Singh had gone in for job reservations. Ironically in 1990 the Congress, apart from the BJP, had strongly opposed V P Singh's move. This time no mainstream party is opposing Mandal II.

But Mandal II is also a political weapon and the question is who benefits from it.

At least for now the Congress can hope to be a beneficiary in the long run.