Ahmedabad, Jan 18 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Thursday that the 10 per cent reservation for the economically weak sections among the general categories would usher in social equality and remove mutual distrust among various communities.
He said that capacity of seats in all educational institutions would be increased by 10 per cent to ensure that the students of other categories were not adversely affected by the new 10 per cent reservation.
The Prime Minister was addressing a gathering after inaugurating an ultra-modern super-specialty public sector hospital set up by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
Modi said it was the "strong political will" of the BJP government that made it possible to implement the decision to provide 10 per cent reservation on economic criteria.
"The need for quotas to the economically weak sections among the general category was being felt for long but no government had showed the political will and the courage to take it to its logical conclusion of amending the Constitution to give effect to the move. It is the strong political will of my government that made it possible," Modi asserted.
He announced that the 10 per cent reservation would be made effective from the current academic year itself and the students belonging to the economically weak category in some 900 universities and 40,000 colleges across the county would benefit from it.
Modi stated that the 10 per cent reservation was over and above the 49 per cent existing reservation benefits to the weaker sections of the society. He said he was confident that it would remove the mistrust and disputes which cropped up frequently between various communities in the country and create social equality.
"The BJP has always remained committed to bringing around social equality and the measure is yet another milestone in my government's declared policy of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'," he said.
The Prime Minister landed in Gujarat on Thursday to inaugurate the three-day Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019.