NewzVille Desk
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, led by Digvijaya Singh has presented a report to Parliament today which advocates for reservations for SC, ST, and OBC communities in private higher educational institutions (HEIs). Key highlights of the Report are:
• Article 15(5) of the Indian Constitution, inserted by Dr Manmohan Singh’s Government in 2006 through the 93rd amendment, allows the Government to mandate reservations for SC, ST, and OBC students in private HEIs
• In May 2014, in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust v Union of India, the Supreme Court of India upheld the validity of Article 15(5), making it clear that reservations are permissible in private HEIs as well
• However there is currently no law passed by Parliament which enforces Article 15(5) and mandates private HEIs to have reservations for SC, ST, and OBC community students
• The current representation of SCs, ST, and OBC communities in private educational institutions is abysmally low.
The Committee looked at the student composition of three private Institutions of Eminence (IoE) recognised by the Union Government 0.89% of students are SC, 0.53% ST and 11.16% OBC.
The Committee has unanimously recommended that the Parliament pass a law implementing 15% reservations for SC communities, 7.5% reservations for ST communities, and 27% reservations for OBC communities.
