NEW DELHI, Nov 12: An all-party meeting in Tamil Nadu on Saturday rejected the 103rd constitution amendment providing for 10 per cent quota to the economically weaker sections among the non-reserved categories and decided to file a review petition in the Supreme Court challenging the apex court’s recent verdict upholding the amendment.
The chief minister MK Stalin presided over the meeting which was attended among others by the representatives of the Congress, PMK, MDMK, VCK, CPM, CPI, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Tamilaga Valvurimai Katchi and The Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi were present. The AIADMK and the BJP boycotted the meeting while the former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam’s faction also did not take part in the meeting.
The resolution stated that the EWS reservation was contrary to the social justice principle prescribed in the Constitution and also against the various judgements of the Supreme Court as well as discriminatory against the poor. It called for the Tamil Nadu government to put forth its argument strongly.
Earlier, addressing the all-party meeting, Stalin said if the amendment was accepted, it would destroy the principle of social justice. “They would remove the reference ‘socially and educationally backward’ and add ‘economically’ in everything. That is why we strongly opposed the amendment in the Parliament and voted against it, Mr. Stalin said.
The CM also pointed out that the Supreme Court has, several times, held that reservation was not a poverty alleviation scheme and in 1992, a nine-member Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court ruled that reservation based on economic considerations was invalid. Mr. Stalin said reservation should be given only to ‘socially and educationally backward’ persons, as per the provisions of the Constitution. It was against social justice and Constitutional provisions, he said.
Mr. Stalin also pointed out that (former leaders) Jawaharlal Nehru and B.R. Ambedkar did not accept the inclusion of ‘economically’ [backward]. “We are not against any scheme which is brought in for the welfare of the poor. In fact, we will back any scheme brought in by the Union government to support the poor. However, our request is, don’t change the fundamentals of social justice, Mr. Stalin said.
The CM also questioned the criteria fixed for EWS reservations. “They are saying that those earning less than ₹8 lakh can benefit. Are those earning ₹66,660 a month poor? Are those earning ₹2,222 daily, poor? The BJP government says those earning less than ₹2 lakh need not pay income tax. Then how can those earning ₹8 lakh be classified as poor,” he asked. This is not a reservation for the poor in the forward class, but reservation for the forward caste, he noted.
(Manas Dasgupta)
