Government Statement On Reservation in Armed Forces

Appointments and selection to Armed Forces are made strictly on merit and no reservation on the basis of caste, community, area or class is provided. There is no proposal to introduce reservation for SCs, STs and OBC for recruitment in the Armed Forces under consideration of the Government. (Source: The LSUQ No. 32 dated 28 May, 1998 by H. Prasad and C.P.M. Giriyappa)

Government Statements On Reservation for OBC

A proposal for providing reservation to OBCs in the educational Institutions is under consider of the Government.

(Source: LSUQ No. 4096 dated 14.7.1998 by A. Ganeshamurthi, Vaiko and A. Roypradhan)

On Reservation for Dalit Christians & Muslims

SC converts to Christianity are at present eligible for reservation benefits applicable to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) by virtue of their inclusion in the Central Lists of OBCs in ... Assam, AP, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Chandigarh, Daman & Diu and Pondicherry.

Muslim members of communities categorised as OBCs are eligible for reservation benefits applicable to OBCs

STs, who profess Islam are also eligible for the benefits of reservation as available to Scheduled Tribes. (Source: LSUQ No. 4016 dated 14 July, 1998 by B.K. Tripathy)

On Reservation in Supreme Court and High Courts

There being no reservation in the matter of appointment of Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts on the basis of caste or class ... information is not maintained separately for caste or class etc.

The Government have, however, addressed letters to the Chief Ministers of the States and the Chief Justices of the High Courts from time to time requesting them to  locate persons from the bar belonging to SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities and Women who are suitable for appointment as High Court Judges. (Source: LSUQ No. 3808 dated 13 July, 1998 by R.T. Chaudhary)

Andhra Pradesh High Court on Reservation in Educational Institutions

Devarakonda Rajesh Babu and etc., Appellants v. The Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences and others, Respondents.

P.S. MISHRA, CJ, B. SUBHASHIAN REDDY AND M.H.S. ANSARI, JJ.

Constitution of India, Articles 371-D, 16, 15 -Reservation - Fiction of carry forward - Applicable in case of appointments - Cannot be applied to admissions in educational institutions.

For the purposes of reservation in appointments after adhering to the area reservation the fiction of carry forward can be applied. But such fiction of carry forward cannot be applied to admissions in the educational institutions and any class reservation if at all possible has to be confined to the  number of seats of admissions ..      (Source: AIR 1998 Andhra Pradesh 162)

Uma Bharti on OBC Reservation

Those who oppose caste as a category for reservation did not understand the Indian social reality; that society is divided along caste lines; that atrocities have been committed in the name of caste. Then, there are those who talk of merit. But surely the chaprasi's son can never ever expect to operate in the same environment as the President's son? ...

Either ensure equal opportunity for all or accept reservation. There can be no equality in an unequal society ... 85 per cent of our people are depressed, cutting across caste lines, and the other 15 per cent form the creamy layer. Therefore, I strongly support the Supreme Court ruling on the creamy layer. In my opinion, the creamy layer should be removed even from the SC/ST quota. Meira Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan do not need reservation nor do Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh.

... The fight of the depressed is for both roti and izzat. Reservation may give roti, but not necessarily  izzat, which is a psychological battle ... Yet, roti gives you the strength to fight for izzat. Those who have roti should not ask for reservation because the others do not even have roti. Reservation is, then, for all those who need it. Women need it because they are among the most deprived ... A backward caste/dalit woman suffers all this twice over because she is both woman and OBC/dalit.

The Women's Reservation Bill is a magnificent step.  All the more reason especially to include the depressed women in it ... Muslim women are among the most depressed, no denying that. But once we have accepted a secular constitution, we cannot have reservation based on religion. That is not just tricky, that could also push the country towards becoming a theocracy. For the religious majority can then ask to rule over the religious minority. The solution is to give reservation to Muslim groups included in the Mandal OBCs. Groups ... will automatically qualify for reservation once this is accepted ... If every political party had naturally done justice to women, there would have been no need for reservation .... (Source: The Times of India, 17 July, 1998)

Shahabuddin's Letter to Uma Bharti, 18 July, 1998

I have gone carefully through the article "Not a Woman's World - Case for OBC Reservation" in the Times of India of 17 July, 1998, based on your interview to V. Subrahmaniam.

To begin with, I agree with almost every thing you have said. As you know, I have been from the early 80's an active supporter of the Mandal Movement and of protective discrimination in favour of all Backward Classes in every field of public employment, private employment, education, social welfare programmes, development and housing sectors etc.

However, representation in the legislature is a fundamental right of all citizens and the demand for reservation of women in legislature is based on the fact of under-representation and not backwardness. However, the benefit of reservation for women should not be monopolised by the elite women but it should be available to all segments of our women across the social spectrum. In this view of the matter, the Shudra, the Achhut and the Adivasi women as well as the women professing Islam and other minority religions in proportion to their population have a just claim.

I am writing this to caution you that the share of the Shudras (the OBC's) should not be 50% of the population but 100% of the population, as in the case of the SC and the ST. I would also like to add that the Constitution does not prescribe 50% limit, the case of representation as it does the case of public employment.

Government Statements On Assistance to Minorities

The National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) was set up in September, 1994 for promoting economic development of minorities with an authorised share capital of Rs. 500 crores. The paid up capital of NMDFC as on date is Rs. 145.76 crores.

The NMDFC has so far disbursed Rs.104 crores for over 30,000 beneficiaries through its State Channelising Agencies (SCAs).

... The SCAs have released Rs. 88.36 crores to the beneficiaries. The percentage of loans released by SCAs comes to 85%.

(Source: LSUQ No. 2107 dated 9.6.1998 by S.C. Varma)

On Welfare of Weavers

Government of India is implementing the following Centrally Sponsored Schemes for the Welfare of Handloom Weavers of the States/UTs in the country :-

(Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4493 dated 17.7.1998 by R Mahtah and M Konodial)