New Delhi:
Even though the government is yet to find a way to implement the
recommendations made by the Ranganath Mishra Commissions on
reservation, it is now planning to setup the Equal Opportunity
Commission (EOC).
"Work on it is taking place in an accelerated pace. The Prime
Minister has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) which will start
working soon. After this, it will come before the Cabinet and then
finally, it will be tabled before Parliament", Minister of Minority
Affairs Salman Khursheed said Tuesday when asked about the
government's plan to set up an Equal Opportunity Commission, which
will prescribe diversity index for
industries
and government sector for affirmative action.
"We
want the coordination work among various political parties needed
for passing the Bill to be completed before it is brought before the
cabinet and Parliament," he said.
Meanwhile, the government today indicated it is in no hurry to
implement the Rangnath Mishra Commission report, which recommended
reservation for the minorities besides SC status to Muslim and
Christian Dalits, saying it is a matter of "great sensitivity".
"This is a matter of great seriousness but also of great
sensitivity. We have to consult widely and this is what we are going
to do. The government will take a collective view on the issue," Salman Khurshid told reporters here when
asked if and when the government intends to implement the report.
Asked how serious the government on the issue was, the minister
said, "Government is always serious about everything but the point
is that every recommendation cannot be accepted and is not
accepted".
"Whatever is found sensible, politically, practically and
constitutionally viable and acceptable to people is accepted," he
added.
Earlier, while
speaking with the media Salman Khursheed had said, he had doubts
about the implementations of the Mishra Panel's recommendations in
its present form.
“I have doubts about the
implementation of its recommendations, but it needs to be studied,”
the minister had said yesterday.
“Now the report is out in public, we
need a debate over it. Full cabinet has to consider it. We will
examine it with sincerity,” Khursheed said.
Asked if a religion-based quota was in
accordance with the constitution, Khursheed said the panel had the
former Supreme Court judge as its head and “the report cannot be
dismissed outrightly”.
“We need to study it thoroughly and
see what can be implemented. As of now I cannot say a clear yes or
no,” he said.
He said the government was also
“considering other models available to it for providing reservation
to minorities”.
“Inclusion of backward classes of the
minorities in the existing 27 percent structure of the OBC can be a
possibility and the government is considering it,” he said.
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