New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) BSP supremo Mayawati Thursday said the Constitution (One Hundred and Seventeeth) Amendment Bill, seeking quotas in promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, would help them achieve proper status in society.
“This bill is needed as such people (SCs/STs) have still not attained their proper place in society. This reservation should in fact be put in the Ninth Schedule of the Indian Constitution,” said Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati in the Rajya Sabha.
Laws under the Ninth Schedule cannot be challenged in courts.
“An impression is being created by those who do not want the SCs/STs to get reservation in jobs that I and my party are against OBCs (Other Backward Castes). We are not at all against OBCs. But this bill is only for SCs and STs and that is why OBCs are not included here,” Mayawati clarified.
“If ever a bill is introduced in parliament seeking to reserve seats for OBCs in government jobs, our party will be the first to support it,” she added.
“Our party also believes that the poor among the upper castes should also get economic help,” said Mayawati.
“I and my party fully support this bill and urge all members of parliament to support it during voting Monday,” said the BSP supremo.
Earlier in the day, there was chaos in the Rajya Sabha, with the Samajwadi Party (SP) creating a ruckus over the quota bill and an angry deputy chairman P.J. Kurien asking that its member be evicted.
SP members started raising slogans saying they did not want reservations in government job promotions, soon after the upper house met following lunch break.
When the din showed no signs of abating, Kurien adjourned the house for 10 minutes.
The unruly scenes continued when the house met again, with SP members gathering near the chair and continuing their loud slogans.
An angry Kurien then told SP members Ram Gopal Yadav and Naresh Agrawal to evict Arvind Kumar Singh from the house. “Please withdraw him,” Kurien said.
“If you don’t, I will be forced to call the marshals,” he said.
When the party members continued their slogan shouting, Kurien announced that the house be adjourned again.
After lunch, the house met and was adjourned three times.
