Quota Bill Tabled: Will PM's Move Before Polls Work?
A bill to provide 10 per cent quota in jobs and education to general category candidates who belong to economically weaker sections, is being discussed in the Lok Sabha and voting will be held tonight. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, during the debate, said the Supreme Court's 50 per cent limit applies only to caste-based reservation. Ahead of the general elections, the government is hoping to push through the bill, which, in a first, will extend reservation to upper castes. The bill is expected to sail smoothly through the Lok Sabha, where the government is in majority. It also will have a chance in Rajya Sabha, where several opposition parties, including the Congress, indicated they would support it. On Versus tonight, we discuss, is this a token signal that the poor from the Upper Caste can be symbolically represented? Does this change the basic structure of the Constitution on which India was founded?
