Responding to the Union Cabinet’ nod for a Constitutional amendment Bill providing 10 per cent more reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in direct recruitment and admission in higher educational institutions, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) has slammed the Modi government, calling it a “jumla”.
In a press release, the student wing of the Indian National Congress said that the EWS category of Rs eight lakhs per annum is “another Modi jumla, considering that 93 per cent of households have an annual household income below Rs 2.5 lakh.”
The NSUI asked, “If economic deprivation reason for underrepresentation, is the Modi government also providing fee-waiver for these students? Moreover, why should reservation in the private sector be extended only to EWS and not to SC/STs and OBCs?”
Hitting at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) further, the NSUI said that a ten per cent reservation in government jobs would mean a “mere 17.5 lakh jobs for crores for EWS youngsters.”
It added that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government’s rule had seen repeated exam paper leaks in the recruitment process for education and employment. Such a move thus, according to the NSUI, indicates that reserved seats are likely to go to “BJP cronies”, and not the deprived.
“The solution to the crisis in education and jobs is to expand the public sector. This method of carving out small portions of reservations from an already shrinking pie will only increase conflict among various citizen and social groups,” said the organisation.
Also read: CPI(M) Dubs Quota for EWS in General Category an Election Jumla; Asks ‘Where Are The Jobs?’