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Friday, December 24, 2010

[ZESTCaste] West Bengal announces 17 % quota for OBC students

http://www.hindu.com/2010/12/24/stories/2010122455431100.htm

West Bengal announces 17 % quota for OBC students

Staff Reporter

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government has decided to reserve 17 per cent
seats in all government and government-aided colleges for students
belonging to the other backward classes (OBCs), with effect from the
coming academic session.

Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury, State Higher Education Minister announced in
the State Assembly here on Thursday.

"The question of reservation of seats in higher education to expand
opportunities to OBCs has been under the consideration of the State
government for quite some time," Mr. Chowdhury said, adding that it
was based on the lines of OBC reservations in Central institutions of
higher education. He assured that the reservation would not reduce the
intake of the students belonging to other categories, as number of
seats will be increased.

However, the implementation of the reservation in Medical and
Engineering Colleges (where the number of seats is determined by a
Central Regulatory Authority like the All India Council for Technical
Education and the Medical Council of India) will depend on the
permission given by the authority concerned, he added.

It will be implemented in two phases. Of the 53 communities listed as
most backward among the OBCs and categorised as OBC-A, 49 are Muslim.
Ten percent seats will be reserved for OBC-A, starting with five per
cent in the 2011-12 and additional five per cent the next academic
year.

"This initiative would increase the enrolment of minorities in higher
education. Nearly 25 per cent of the population in the State is
Muslim. While the enrolment of Muslims in primary education is about
33 per cent, it is 21.82 per cent in secondary education and even
lesser in higher education. For example, only 13 per cent of students
in medical colleges are Muslims," Abdus Sattar, Minister for
Minorities Development, Welfare and Madrasah Education told The Hindu.

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[ZESTCaste] Gujjar stir: 24-hour bandh in Ajmer

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gujjar-stir-24hour-bandh-in-ajmer/138470-3.html

Gujjar stir: 24-hour bandh in Ajmer
CNN-IBN
Posted on Dec 24, 2010 at 08:34am IST

New Delhi: Rajasthan government has invited protesting Gujjars for talks.

Rajasthan Government has constituted a committee of three ministers to
talk to Gujjars including Jitendra Singh, power minister, home
minister Shanti Dhariwal, transport minister Braj Kishore Sharma.

Meanwhile it's another day of rail disruptions in north India - as the
Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan continues into it's fifth day - a
24-hour bandh in Ajmer.

Gujjar stir: 24-hour bandh in Ajmer

To put pressure on the state government, the community wants a 5 per
cent quota within the existing 21 per cent OBC quota in government
jobs and educational institutions.

Highways and key rail routes remain blocked or the past four days.

Sangharsh Committee convener Om Prakash Bhadana told reporters that
they would intensify their agitation if the state government failed to
provide quota to them.

In an attempt to do so, they call for a day-long bandh in Ajmer on Friday.

Earlier too, over 200 Gujjars blocked the National Highway in Ajmer
for three hours in protest.

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[ZESTCaste] Education quota pledge

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101224/jsp/nation/story_13342968.jsp

Education quota pledge
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, Dec. 23: The Bengal government today expectedly tabled the
bill that would in effect hand a 10 per cent job quota to Bengal's
backward Muslims, while announcing a similar seat reservation in
higher education institutions in phases starting next year.

Higher education minister Sudarshan Raychoudhury said the 17 per cent
OBC seat quota — of which 10 per cent would go to Category A (most
backward) which is dominated by Muslims — would be introduced in
phases because of a seat shortage.

Five per cent quotas would be introduced for each of the two OBC
categories, A and B, in the 2011-12 academic session that begins next
June-July. The following year will see the implementation of five and
two per cent quotas for Category A and Category B, respectively. A
government notification will be issued soon, he said.

Raychoudhury said the state government had asked central regulatory
bodies to allow an increase in higher education seats in Bengal so
that the general category's share did not fall.

The OBC job quota bill, which sets aside 10 per cent jobs for Category
A and seven per cent for Category B, was today sent to the Assembly
standing committee by Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim after its
introduction.

Backward classes development minister Jogesh Burman later said this
was routine procedure and should not be seen as a "political setback"
for the government. CPM leaders expressed confidence that the bill,
seen as a vote-catcher, would be passed in the pre-poll budget
session.

Raychoudhury said the state had asked central regulatory bodies such
as the Medical Council of India and the All India Council for
Technical Education to allow an increase of seats in medical,
engineering and other technical colleges in Bengal. If this is
approved, "the total seats would increase for students of all social
backgrounds", he said.

However, existing central guidelines stipulate that seats should not
be raised to facilitate admission quotas.

"I have spoken to the Union human resource minister to allow us to
increase the number of seats in medical and engineering colleges and
other institutions for three years before the final decision is taken
by the respective central apex (regulatory) bodies. The law permits it
and some central institutions have already done it," Raychoudhury
said.

He acknowledged that the reservation — whenever the law is passed —
would not be binding on private educational institutions but added:
"We will appeal to private institutions to emulate our affirmative
action."

Raychoudhury said the state government had been planning to introduce
the OBC quota in higher education ever since the Centre enacted a law
in 2006 facilitating such reservation in central educational
institutions.

Neither the job quota bill nor Raychoudhury's announcement about the
education quota mentioned backward Muslims by name, but only cited the
categories A and B.

The job quota will apply to government departments, corporations and
PSUs as well as all educational institutions owned or funded by the
state government. The state already has job reservations for the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Thirty-one per cent of seats are now reserved in Bengal's educational
institutions. The Scheduled Castes are entitled to 22 per cent, the
Scheduled Tribes to six per cent and physically challenged students to
three per cent.

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[ZESTCaste] Rajasthan HC stays 5% reservation for Gujjars

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/rajasthan-hc-stays-5-reservation-for-gujjars/articleshow/7148556.cms

23 Dec, 2010, 06.24AM IST,ET Bureau

Rajasthan HC stays 5% reservation for Gujjars

JAIPUR | NEW DELHI: The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday stayed
operation of a 2008 Act granting five percent reservation for Gujjars
in the state, causing angry community leaders to threaten an
intensified agitation.

As Gujjar leaders resolved to throw rail and road traffic out of gear
in the state and also disrupt milk supply to Delhi, the centre rushed
1,500 para-military personnel to assist the state police in
maintaining law and order. Union Home Secretary GK Pillai also spoke
to Rajasthan chief secretary on Wednesday to take stock of the
situation and discuss preventive measures.

Earlier on Wednesday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun
Mishra and Justice Mahesh Bhagwati held that Gujjars could not be
given special reservation as an Act of 2008 has no substratum of
quantifiable data that could justify the quota.

The judges, while hearing a petition by G Sharma, ruled that the
government could continue to provide one per cent reservation for
Gujjars in its ongoing recruitment drive. However, they asked the
government to carry out within a year an exercise to collect details
on the economic status of Gujjars and other communities, including
Raikas, Raibari and Gadiya Lohars, to justify their quota under the
special backward classes category.

Reacting to the court decision, Colonel (Retd) KS Bainsla, convener of
Gujjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (GASS), said that the community would
intensify its stir launched on Monday.

"The government has failed to present our case in a proper manner in
the court. We want 5 per cent reservation. We are not concerned what
court has to say. Our demand was never from the court but it was from
the government. We will end our agitation only after the government
provides us reservation," said Bainsla. Bainsla said he has asked the
members of his community to stop supply of milk to Delhi.

"We have been forced to intensify our stir... we will not supply milk
to Delhi and start blocking major national highways," he said. As the
Gujjar agitation entered the third day, train services between Delhi
and Mumbai were hit Wednesday with protestors blocking a railway track
near Bayana in Bharatpur district. Agitating Gujjars also blocked
Ajmer-Jaipur highway near Ghugra in Ajmer district.

Over 15,000 Gujjars began their agitation on Monday. They have held
demonstrations in Bhilwara, Ajmer and other parts of the state. The
agitators also blocked the Bayana-Hindon and Hindon-Bharatpur roads,
forcing the government to cancel some of its bus services on these
routes.

The government has warned that strong action would be taken against
people who damage government property. A 2008 Act had provided for
five per cent reservation for Gujjars and 14 per cent for economically
backward classes, taking the total quota in Rajasthan to 68%.

The high court thereafter stayed the quota in jobs and educational
institutions in the state for Gujjars and economically backward
classes as the reservation ceiling had exceeded the cap of 50% laid
down by the Supreme Court. Gujjars in Rajasthan, demanding reservation
for better educational and job prospects, staged many violent protests
between 2006 and 2008, leading to loss of lives.

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[ZESTCaste] Rail traffic suffers as Gujjar anger boils over

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/122708/rail-traffic-suffers-gujjar-anger.html

Rail traffic suffers as Gujjar anger boils over
New Delhi, December 22, dhns:

The decision of the Gujjar leaders to intensify the ongoing
pro-reservation agitation across Rajasthan after an adverse decision
in the High Court may hit rail traffic on Mumbai-Delhi track in a big
way.

With Railways having already diverted 28 trains from Tuesday and
cancelled a few short distance trains on Bharatpur section, the
ministry is trying hard to maintain traffic on this track which
connects western India to central and north India.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Gujjar Arakshan Sangharsha Samiti chief Kirori
Singh Bainsla reacted sharply on the High Court verdict against the
five per cent reservation given by the state government, and announced
a further rail and road blockade. He has given a call to stop milk
supply to the national capital.

The diverted trains which have adopted alternative routes include
important trains like Mumbai Central-New Delhi Rajdhani Express,
Mumbai Central-Hazrat Nizamuddin August kranti Rajdhani Express,
Pune-Hazrat Nizamuddin Duranto Express, Bandra Terminus-Amritsar
Pashchim Express and Mumbai Central-Amritsar Golden Temple Mail.

The number of Gujjars blocking rail track since Monday in Pilupura
village near Bayana in Bharatpur district, 173km from Jaipur is
swelling and other rail routes are also facing the threat of blockade.

The Bandra Terminus-Gorakhpur Avadh Express & the Bandra
Terminus-Dehradun Express trains have been diverted to run via Sawai
Madhopur-Jaipur-Rewari stations.

No special quota, rules HC

A Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday held that
Gujjars could not be given special reservation in government jobs,
reports PTI from Jaipur. Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Mahesh
Bhagwati held that Gujjars cannot be given special reservation.

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Friday, December 24, 2010

[ZESTCaste] West Bengal announces 17 % quota for OBC students

[ZESTCaste] Gujjar stir: 24-hour bandh in Ajmer

[ZESTCaste] Education quota pledge

[ZESTCaste] Rajasthan HC stays 5% reservation for Gujjars

[ZESTCaste] Rail traffic suffers as Gujjar anger boils over

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