The March: Against Terrorism Against Corruption (ATAC)

Dear Friends,
This is to bring to your kind attention that World Alliance for Youth Empowerment (WAYE) and Youth for Equality (YFE) along with many other groups are going to have a massive rally on March 1st in New Delhi @ Parliament Street.
T H E M A R C H Against Corruption. Against Terrorism
*Date: *March 1, 2009
*Venue: *Parliament Street, New Delhi
*Time: *2pm
SUPPORTING PARTNER: Youth For Equality
Charon taraf andhera har ore bekali hai
Koi nahin batata kashti kidhar chali hai
Majdhar hai bhanwar hai ya paas hai kinara
Ya naash aa raha ya saubhagya ka sitara
Tamvedhini kiran ka sandhan mangta hoon
Dhruv ki kathin ghadi mein pehchaan maangta hoon
* **(Excerpts from a poem By Ramdhari Singh Dinkar)***Before independence this poem…*Inspired a man to awaken and overthrow the shackles of British dominationon his country. **His name was Bhagat Singh.***Today this poem will inspire…*A generation to awaken and overthrow the shackles of corruption and terrorin our country. Our names are many.
*Aiming to mobilise over 1 lakh citizens to march together and raise aunified voice against corruption and terrorism.Pledging to build a corruption free nation.
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation,has conceptualized this march to awaken and empower citizens in order to createan on-ground structure that will actually effect a change in societalcircumstances and situations. In keeping with His vision and mission of astress-free, violence-free planet where individuals contribute towards thegoal of a One-World Family, this initiative has a three pronged purpose:-
1) Creating public awareness and mobilizing people, organizations andcommunities towards the cause of rooting out corruption and terrorism from the country.
2) Organizing a forum and an activity structure in partnership with variousNGO's, bodies to involve citizen participation (esp. Youth) in thedemocratic process and address social issues.
3) Taking sustainable action at the grass root level, system level andpolicy level towards nation building*
**WHY DO THIS NOW?*
India has the dubious distinction of being one of the most corrupt nationsin the world, ranking a poor 45 of the 49 countries evaluated on the WorldEconomic Forum Survey 2003 'Honesty' index.A dangerous manifestation of corruption is terrorism. According to thedatabase information released by START (The National Consortium for theStudy of Terrorism and Responses to Terror) 4,108 terrorist incidentsoccurred in India between 1970 to 2004 which put India into sixth place inTerrorism hit nations list. More than 400 people died in terror attacks in2008. The actual figure is unknown.As a country, we need to actively start moving in a concerted way againstthese twin evils that are now threatening our very existence.The support and ownership of civil society is an important element ineradicating the problemof corruption and terrorism.*HOW DO WE ACHIEVE OUR GOAL?*The Youth wing of the Art of Living, World Alliance for Youth Empowerment(WAYE) will spearhead this year-long nation wide movement, starting withthis march, that will have the active support and participation of allsections of civil society including educational institutions, NGO's, Residents'welfare organisations, Youth groups, Social service organisations, Culturalorganisations, Corporate houses, and Individuals from all walks of life.The objective is to awaken and empower people, especially the youth, toparticipate in the democratic process.Under the sensitisation theme of "Make your Country your Valentine", weendeavour to catalyze this movement, across the nation, with a 3 fold solution: AWARENESS,ACCOUNTABILITY & ACTION.*
The aim is to make the youth aware of their role and propel them to bringabout social transformation by active participation in the democraticprocess.**So let us send out a call to our country to create a safe society. A society which has no fear in walking into an airplane, train, bus. Or whenwe enter a mall, cinema, hotel, with our children. Or our very own homes.*
*Let us take responsibility and bring the change- for our future and ourfuture generations**
**Ask not what your country can do for you,**Ask what you can do for your country.*

So this movement is yet another attempt to bring all the concerned citizens on one stage. Hence, we would want all big small groups/association/organizations extending support to this rally. It would be even more great if few of the representatives from your organization can come to attend the same. For more details regarding the same you can visit the website

http://www.themarch.in

You can also get the latest updates on the same by sending SMS MARCH to 56767
You can also contact
Saket Kumar on : 09870710963or Dr Kaushal Mishra on: 09868340420

Congratulations!! One battle won by YFE

In a significant development, 47 top institutions in the country including the IITs and IIMs as well as the central university will be exempted from faculty reservations.

The job reservations for SC/ST citizens in India so far has been through a bunch executive order.

In the last session, the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) introduced a bill to provide a framework for job quotas. But the HRD ministry informed the IIT council today that the bill will not include India's premier institutions.

The HRD ministry informed the council in a meeting that their long standing demand to exempt IITs and IIMs from faculty reservations has been met.

The UPA in the last session has introduced as bill in Parliament to provide statutory framework to quotas in jobs. The bill is now with the upper house, the Rajya Sabha.

HRD ministry has informed that the bill will exclude 47 top institutes including IITs, IIMs and NITs as well as all central universities, from reservations.

The bill is called SC/ST Post Resevation Bill, 2008.

The Prime Minister had gone to IIT Guwahati last year where the institute made a representation aganst quotas in the faculty of these premier institutes.

For the time its tenure, HRD Minister Arjun Singh has readily conceded to
the demands of the anti-reservation lobby.

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You can join the google group:

http://groups.google.com/group/yfecentral?hl=en

Remember, Together we can bring a change in the society and we will!!

Jai Hind

Job Quota in Private sector

August 16, 2008: The Hindu

KOCHI: A Dalit convention being organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) here on Saturday will make a forceful demand for reservation of jobs for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the private sector.

The reservation issue will top the 17-point charter of demand to be adopted at the meet, which will be held at the Harkishan Singh Surjeet Nagar in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at 2 p.m. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat will open the convention.

An array of senior party and government leaders, including Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and party State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, will attend the convention, billed as one of the largest Dalit conventions in the State. The meet aims to politically energise the Dalits and enable them to assert their rights within Kerala's mainstream politics.

Minister for Welfare of Scheduled and Backward Communities A.K. Balan, who is the chairman of the reception committee, told The Hindu that job reservation in the private sector was crucial for the economic emancipation of the Scheduled communities in the times of globalisation. He pointed out that job opportunities were fast shrinking in the government sector and public-sector undertakings. This had affected the Scheduled communities badly, as they were not yet able to compete with general-category job-seekers.

Mr. Balan said strong pressure needed to be put on the Union government for a constitutional amendment to facilitate reservation. The private sector job reservation was on the agenda of the party and the last congress had discussed it.

The meeting would also press the government to identify extra land holdings and allot them to Dalits on a war-footing to solve Dalit landlessness. A major issue that will be discussed at the meet is measures to secure higher education and professional training for the Scheduled Castes community. Though the Dalits were mostly literate now, they lagged behind in terms of higher education and professional education.

Mr. Balan said there was nothing wrong in the CPI(M) organising a Dalit convention and this did not mean that the party was abandoning the class war and promoting caste-based struggles. Organising depressed communities to enable them to assert their rights and fight for their demands was a party policy. Conventions of converted Christians would be the next, he said.

He ruled out any plan to launch a Dalit-specific organisation. The Dalit issue would be tackled within the mainstream political space of the party. He also denied that the CPI(M) Dalit convention was a response to the Chengara agitation where the party was on the defensive.

Elaborate arrangements, including closed-circuit television, have been made at the convention venue. The main stage for the meeting has been designed by film director Shaji N. Karun. About a lakh people are expected to show up for the convention, party sources said.

INDRAJAAL OF TAMILNADU

Indrajaal or illusion is when you perceive a rope as a snake or vice versa. One of the greatest indrajaal of present time can be experienced in Tamil Nadu where Dravidian fascism is being marketed as 'social justice'. Tamil Nadu model of reservation has virtually robbed the minority general community of their dignity and right to life/livelihood and has lead to their disenfranchisement. Analysis of an entrance results or appointment is sufficient to prove it.



The results of Tamil Nadu MBBS and Postgraduate degree courses (MS/MD/MCh) entrance have been declared recently. Highlights of the results are as follows:

Current reservation in Tamil Nadu: Backward Classes ( BC) 23%, Backward Classes Christians (BCC) 3.5%, Backward Classes Muslims(BCM) 3.5%, Most Backward Classes/ Denotified Classes (MBC/DC) 20.0%, Scheduled Castes (SC) 18%, and Scheduled tribes (ST) 1%. Total reservation is 69%.

Remaining 31 % seats belong to Open Category (OC). All above mentioned communities and general non-reserve 'Other Communities (OC) ' can compete for this open category.

There were 1394 seats in MBBS. Out of these, 26 seats were allotted to 'Special Category" candidate'

Distribution of remaining 1368 seats was as follows: BC (312), BCC (48), BCM (48), MBC/DC (275), SC (247), and ST (13). The remaining 425 seats were for Open Category.

In Open Category, about 89% seats were taken away by reserved candidates: BC (244), BCC (28), BCM (18), MBC/DC (60), SC (27), and ST (1).

Other highlights included: ·

The General candidates (OC/OC) could get only 47 seats out of 1368 seats, i.e. only 3.4% seats.

General candidate could get only 47 seats out of 425 open seats, i.e. only 11.0% seats.

Backward Classes (BC+MBC + BCC + BCM) took away 350 seats in Open category, i.e. 82.5% of open category.

In first 50 ranks, only 3 belonged to general, non-reserved communities. Remaining 47 seats were taken away by Backward Classes.

Even SCs captured 27 seats in Open Category and could make about 60% of non-reserved general candidates.

Arjun Singh interviewd by Karan Thapar

Karan Thapar: Do you personally also, as Minister of Human Resource Development, believe that a reservation is the right and proper way to help the OBCs?
Arjun Singh: Certainly, that is one of the most important ways to do it.
Karan Thapar: The right way?
Arjun Singh: Also the right way.
Karan Thapar: In which case, let’s ask a few basic questions; we are talking about the reservations for the OBCs in particular. Do you know what percentage of the Indian population is OBC? Mandal puts it at 52 per cent, the National Sample Survey Organization at 32 per cent, the National Family and Health Survey at 29.8 per cent, which is the correct figure?
Arjun Singh: I think that should be decided by people who are more knowledgeable. But the point is that the OBCs form a fairly sizeable percentage of our population.
Karan Thapar: No doubt, but the reason why it is important to know ‘what percentage’ they form is that if you are going to have reservations for them, then you must know what percentage of the population they are, otherwise you don’t know whether they are already adequately catered in higher educational institutions or not.
Arjun Singh: That is obvious - they are not.
Karan Thapar: Why is it obvious?
Arjun Singh: Obvious because it is something which we all see.
Karan Thapar: Except for the fact that the NSSO, which is a government appointed body, has actually in its research in 1999 - which is the most latest research shown - that 23.5 per cent of all university seats are already with the OBCs. And that is just 8.5 per cent less than what the NSSO believes is the OBC share of the population. So, for a difference of 8 per cent, would reservations be the right way of making up the difference?
Arjun Singh: I wouldn’t like to go behind all this because, as I said, Parliament has taken a view and it has taken a decision, I am a servant of Parliament and I will only implement.
Karan Thapar: Absolutely, Parliament has taken a view, I grant it. But what people question is the simple fact - Is there a need for reservations? If you don’t know what percentage of the country is OBC, and if furthermore, the NSSO is correct in pointing out that already 23.5 per cent of the college seats are with the OBC, then you don’t have a case in terms of need.
Arjun Singh: College seats, I don’t know.
Karan Thapar: According to the NSSO - which is a government appointed body - 23.5 per cent of the college seats are already with the OBCs.
Arjun Singh: What do you mean by college seats?
Karan Thapar: University seats, seats of higher education.
Arjun Singh: Well, I don’t know I have not come across that far.
Karan Thapar: So, when critics say to you that you don’t have a case for reservation in terms of need, what do you say to them?
Arjun Singh: I have said what I had to say and the point is that it is not an issue for us to now debate.
Karan Thapar: You mean the chapter is now closed?
Arjun Singh: The decision has been taken.
Karan Thapar: Regardless of whether there is a need or not, the decision is taken and it is a closed chapter.
Arjun Singh: So far as I can see, it is a closed chapter and that is why I have to implement what all Parliaments have said.
Karan Thapar: Minister, it is not just in terms of ‘need’ that your critics question the decision to have reservation for OBCs in higher education. More importantly, they question whether reservations themselves are efficacious and can work.
For example, a study done by the IITs themselves shows that 50 per cent of the IIT seats for the SCs and STs remain vacant and for the remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent are the candidates, who even after six years fail to get their degrees. So, clearly, in their case, reservations are not working.
Arjun Singh: I would only say that on this issue, it would not be correct to go by all these figures that have been paraded.
Karan Thapar: You mean the IIT figures themselves could be dubious?
Arjun Singh: Not dubious, but I think that is not the last word.
Karan Thapar: All right, maybe the IIT may not be the last word, let me then quote to you the report of the Parliamentary Committee on the welfare for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - that is a Parliamentary body.
It says that looking at the Delhi University, between 1995 and 2000; just half the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Castes level and just one-third of the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Tribes level were filled. All the others went empty, unfilled. So, again, even in Delhi University, reservations are not working.
Arjun Singh: If they are not working, it does not mean that for that reason we don’t need them. There must be some other reason why they are not working and that can be certainly probed and examined. But to say that for this reason, ‘no reservations need to be done’ is not correct.
Karan Thapar: Fifty years after the reservations were made, statistics show, according to The Hindustan Times, that overall in India, only 16 per cent of the places in higher education is occupied by SCs and STs. The quota is 22.5 per cent, which means that only two-thirds of the quota is occupied. One third is going waste, it is being denied to other people.
Arjun Singh: As I said, the kinds of figures that have been brought out, in my perception, do not reflect the realities. Realities are something much more and of course, there is an element of prejudice also.
Karan Thapar: But these are figures that come from a Parliamentary Committee. It can’t be prejudiced; they are your own colleagues.
Arjun Singh: Parliamentary Committee has given the figures, but as to why this has not happened, that is a different matter.
Karan Thapar: I put it to you that you don’t have a case for reservations in terms of need; you don’t have a case for reservations in terms of their efficacy, why then, are you insisting on extending them to the OBCs?
Arjun Singh: I don’t want to use that word, but I think that your argument is basically fallacious.
Karan Thapar: But it is based on all the facts available in the public domain.
Arjun Singh: Those are facts that need to be gone into with more care. What lies behind those facts, why this has not happened, that is also a fact.
Karan Thapar: Let’s approach the issue of reservations differently in that case. Reservations mean that a lesser-qualified candidate gets preference over a more qualified candidate, solely because in this case, he or she happens to be an OBC. In other words, the upper castes are being penalized for being upper caste.
Arjun Singh: Nobody is being penalized and that is a factor that we are trying to address. I think that the prime Minister will be talking to all the political parties and will be putting forward a formula, which will see that nobody is being penalized.
Karan Thapar: I want very much to talk about that formula, but before we come to talk about how you are going to address concerns, let me point one other corollary - Reservations also gives preference and favor to caste over merit. Is that acceptable in a modern society?
Arjun Singh: I don’t think the perceptions of modern society fit India entirely.
Karan Thapar: You mean India is not a modern society and therefore can’t claim to be treated as one?
Arjun Singh: It is emerging as a modern society, but the parameters of a modern society do not apply to large sections of the people in this country.

Now take a moment to congratulate Karan Thapar for skillfully exposing Arjun Singh for the clueless dolt he is.

These are the people who decide our fate!

This is the headline of many national news papers:

Yet another MP is convicted of murder
25 Jun 2008, , Dipak Mishra & Rajiv Kumar,TNN

BEGUSARAI/PATNA: A trial court on Tuesday convicted controversial Lok Janshakti Party MP, Surajbhan Singh, for killing a farmer over a land dispute 16 years ago.

He is the third MP from the state to be convicted. Apart from the three, a former MP and a former state minister — making it a total of five politicians — have been convicted by different Bihar courts in recent years. Shibu Soren, an MP from neighbouring Jharkhand was convicted of murder, but later acquitted.

Fast-track court judge Ravi Prakash Dhar Dubey found Surajbhan, MP from Balia, and two others — Jai Ram Singh and Radhe Singh — guilty of murdering Rami Singh of Madhurapur village in Begusarai in January 1992.

Special public prosecutor Shyameshwar Dayal said the Begusarai court will hear the prosecution and defence on Wednesday before deciding on the quantum of punishment.

Trials are on in at least five other criminal cases against Surajbhan. There was an uneasy calm inside the courtroom with the MP, in white shirt and trousers with a tilak on his forehead, standing quietly in the dock when the verdict was delivered.

Nitish govt played role in speedy trial

It was a long, eventful trial and the Patna high court had to intervene to complete it within a timeframe.

But the fast-track court's bid to expedite things received a setback when prosecution counsel Ram Naresh Sharma was murdered in November last year. Subsequently, Dayal, a Patna HC lawyer who was appointed by the state government as special public prosecutor to oversee all other cases related to the MP, took charge of this case as well.

The sitting MPs who have been convicted are: Pappu Yadav (Purnea), Mohammed Shahabuddin (Siwan), both from RJD; and Anand Mohan Singh, a former MP from Sheohar. Anand Mohan was sentenced to death for the lynching of then Gopalganj DM, G Krishnaiah. Shahabuddin has been convicted in at least three cases.

He was given life term for kidnapping CPI-ML worker Munna Choudhary with the intent of murder. Pappu got life term for the murder of CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar in 1998. Former Bihar minister in Rabri cabinet, Aditya Singh, and his son are in jail for killing two persons in Nawada.

If the law is catching up with the state's dons-turned-politicians, it has more to do with the Nitish Kumar government's move to ensure speedy trial in criminal cases. After these cases, including those against politicians, were transferred to fast-track courts some two years ago, 6,000-odd criminals have been convicted by various courts.

Starting off as a contract killer for UP mafia don Shriprakash Shukla (killed in an encounter by police) in the early 1990s, Surajbhan has of late been controlling most railway contracts and other PSUs in Begusarai and surrounding districts. Feared as a crack shooter who kills in cold-blood, Surajbhan in the mid-1990s led upper caste criminals in retaliatory violence against backward caste goons. In 2000, he was elected MLA from Mokama and his political clout helped him bag more contracts.


From YFE:
Are our leaders law abiding citizens? Nearly a quarter (23.2%) of the MPs has reported criminal cases against them. One out of two among them (over 50%) have cases that could attract penalties of imprisonment of five or more years. The states of Bihar, U.P., Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh that account for over 50% of the MPs with the high penalty criminal cases.

Though with Supreme Court order, it has become mandatory for candidates to declare the cases pending against them, it has hardly discouraged the political parties from nominating known criminals as their candidates. According to ‘Election Watch" in Bihar assembly election (2004-2005), each major political party has fielded 30% to 40% candidates with criminal background. The affidavits submitted by candidates just make some news headlines in English media. The information hardly reaches the voters. Ignorance of voters, caste and communal equations, large scale intimidation of voters and absence of middle and upper classes from voting make this declaration virtually ineffective. The problem becomes worse when all the major candidate in a constituency have criminal background. In absence of negative voting, one of them is definitely going to be elected.

Several organizations have repeatedly demanded that any person charged with any offence punishable with imprisonment for a maximum term of five years or more, should be disqualified for being chosen as or for being a member of Parliament or Legislature of a State till he/she is cleared of charges by the court. The same views have been endorsed by National Law commission, National Commission for Review of Constitution, and Election Commission of India. But when it comes to politicians to decide about it ( Read Standing Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms), the outcome Is zero. They refused this notion on the ground that the candidates may be falsely implicated in criminal cases by the ruling party.

This is atrocious! They are protecting each other by posing a threat from each other. When it comes to sharing the spoils (of the nation), the present day political class is no better than a pack of wolves!

Almost 16mn Commercial Units Owned by OBC's

The other backward classes (OBCs), who have been granted 27 percent quota in government jobs and educational institutions for being socially and economically backward, own 15.92 million entrepreneurial units, says the official Economic Census for 2005, released Thursday.

People from the Scheduled Castes (SCs), another marginalised section of society with 15 percent reservation in government jobs and colleges, own 3.69 million units, while those from Scheduled Tribes (STs) run 1.52 million units, according to the 2005 data.

The Economic Census released here by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) of the statistics and programme implementation ministry said as many as 41.82 million establishments were in operation in 2005.

Out of a total of 6.08 million establishments in the farm sector, the share of OBCs was 2.81 million or 46.24 percent, while that of SCs was 0.61 million or 10.08 percent. STs accounted for only 0.38 million or 6.32 percent.

'Over 93 percent of these units owned by OBCs, SCs, and STs were in rural areas,' said S.K. Nath, director general of CSO, which conducted the Economic Census that gives not only an insight into India's economy but also intends to meet the requirements of planners, policy makers and researchers.

The census says that 100.9 million people were employed in 41.83 million establishments in India in 2005, out of which 25.54 million units were in rural areas and 16.29 million in urban areas.

Five states accounting for about 50 percent of total employment in organised and unorganised sectors were Andhra Pradesh (11.20 million), Maharashtra (11.31 million), Tamil Nadu (10.06 million), Uttar Pradesh (8.15 million) and West Bengal (10.03 million).

The Centre Just cannot hold

The Fourth anniversary of UPA government has been celebrated and why not. The election victory in 2004 was a total surprise and even more so was the innovation that the leader of the largest single party did not become prime minister and she appointed a trusted and talented man as ‘her’ prime minister. There has been little friction between the two, and everyone knows that while he is honest and hardworking, she makes the crucial decisions. Until something goes wrong. Then he takes the blame as with the nuclear deal and with the recent inflation upsurge.
But there is more to coalition dharma than just personalities. India has drifted over the last 20 years to become a softer state than it used to be. The Centre still has constitutional primacy and often uses it to mischievous partisan ends. Thanks to the fruits of liberal economic reform of the PM when he was FM and the current FM’s work with building a prudent and efficient tax collection machinery, the Centre has money to throw around at problems it is too lazy or powerless to solve — farmers deaths’, oil price rise, reservations in apex elite institutions of higher education. The money may never get there but at least gestures are made.
But terrorism cannot be and will not be bribed away. Jaipur has shown how flimsy the anti-terrorism fight has become in India. Rather than worry about protecting the citizens or even finding the culprits, the first worry is to ‘avoid Gujarat’, say nothing which will antagonise the Muslim (why use the weasel word ‘minority’?) community. The simple fact is that no one is saying All Muslims are Terrorists. Only that today all, if not most, terrorist activity aimed against urban India as indeed against urban areas around the world is instigated by Muslims who have embraced the Islamist creed of Osama Bin Laden. Most Muslims are victims of this nasty philosophy as are the non-Muslims around the world.

It is a lazy security service which blames Pakistan or Lashkar-e-Toiba or SIMI even before a single investigation has been carried out. In the UK, painstaking surveillance has been used to stop plots to blow people up in their tracks before the plotters get a chance. Mobile telephones and emails and websites are monitored ceaselessly to get the evidence to convict potential terrorists. Meticulous care has to be taken to search the crime scene for any and all forensic clues. One cannot afford to clean the area up for a VIP visit as often happens in India where the 10 minutes kowtowing at the feet of the VIP is worth far more for a policeman’s career than saving a thousand lives.

The fact is that be it the surrender at Kandahar or the appalling and repeated incidents of terrorist activities which have occurred and will recur, nothing shames the political leadership of UPA, NDA or any other concoction. They’d much rather score points against each other than protect the public. They are safe behind their triple Z security and citizens can go hang. Even where people are caught, no one gets even presented to court much less convicted, for decades. Even in communal riots, the same sad story is told. No one can be blamed if there is a single member of any of the 200 political parties who can claim to be related to the culprit. Trials can be postponed or shifted or just botched.

There is no shortage of bodies, commissions, reports, initiatives, panels upon panels of experts and yet no safety for citizens. The Centre has become non-functional in internal security as the tragic farce over Naxalite insurgency shows. Parties sympathetic to terrorists, be they Tamil nationalists of Eelam or left wing fellow traveller terrorists, can be safely in power, if not in office, at the Centre. They have only to profess to be anti-communal; to be anti-terrorist is not required.

It is difficult to see when and how this situation will be reversed. If the political system is not willing to crack the whip and take internal security seriously, then no amount of new legislation or central agencies will matter. The system is divided in the way it perceives citizens. The idea that all Indians are citizens subject to the same laws has eroded since Independence. Each individual has value to the extent of the votebank to which she belongs. If you’re not part of a votebank, tough luck.

Whenever general elections happen, there will be no resolution of this problem. There will be no single party majority government and another fractured coalition will take office. This coalition will also boast of some philosophy — Hindutva or secularism or anti-imperialism — but it will be stuck in the same spineless attitude about threats to internal security. Maybe there is not enough money to be made for politicians fighting internal terrorists as there is in buying defence equipment or in starting SEZs or bossing over drug companies or spending infrastructure funds. It is even more fun running the cricket board and T-20 league than in caring about hunger and food supplies.

As the anarchist jibe says whoever wins the Government always gets back. Stay alive if you can.

Email:m.desai@lse.ac.uk
By Megnad Desai in DNA Newspaper, Page-11, dated 01/06/08

Candle Light Vigil on 31st May

A candle Light vigil has been organized at KEM Hospital Gate No- 1, Opposite Wadia Maternity Center, Parel on Saturday, 31st May, 2008 at
7 pm to protest against the government's inclination to circumvent the Supreme Court's order and to save the country from any future caste wars.

Please be there and extend your support to the cause.
It is the high time to come together and fight this parochial and divisive politics.

You can call on helpline number mentioned for more details.

Too Many Reservations

In Indian Express dated 27th May' 08 by Pratap Bhanu Mehta

When the Gurjjar agitation started, knowledgeable observers had widely feared that its denouement would be something resembling war. More than 50 deaths, several districts under blockade, some virtually under a state of siege, mobile services suspended, transport interrupted, leaders unable to move freely, and a deep sense of foreboding, all suggest that the worst fears about this agitation have come true. Like so many tragedies, this one was long in the making. But no one, not the state government, not the opposition, not society at large, was willing to face up to the fact that Rajasthan was digging itself deeper and deeper into a hole. And positions are now so entrenched that a just and honourable resolution of the underlying issues seems all but impossible.

The state government’s attitude to this agitation, ever since it started, has been a mixture of condescension and brutality. When the agitation first started, it did not take it seriously. When violence broke out, it bought time for itself by creating a facade of a procedure whose outcome everyone knew would not resolve the issue. Simply put, the state government was not going to recommend ST status for Gurjjars. But it did not use this window of opportunity to politically engage the Gurjjars. Rather, it thought, with condescension typical of this government, that it could buy out Gurjjars by giving them a ministerial berth or two. It says something about the state of the country that when the Gurjjars peacefully courted arrest in the thousands last year, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Peace was associated with declining momentum for the movement, and we all went to sleep. The only lesson the Gurjjars learnt as a result was that violence is necessary to get attention.

The state, for the most part was stuck. Having reduced classifications for affirmative action to a power play, buttressed by a facade of a procedure, it could not move in any direction. If it gave Gurjjars what they wanted, it risked a backlash from powerful communities like the Meenas. On the other hand, it could not acknowledge that the net result of the state’s caving in to Jat assertion of power and granting them OBC status, was to send a signal to communities like the Gurjjars that the whole system was unfair. And even now the government (and the Congress) are stuck: damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Within the current paradigm of classifications, the Gurjjar concerns had some justification. But the political terrain has already shifted from reasoned argument to violence.

But it would be a mistake to think that this agitation is about legal classification. The social equilibrium of Rajasthan has been under considerable stress for a number of years. Three underlying trends are particularly worrying. First, many of those killed were in the age group of 16 to 25. Access to bad-quality education has created an odd social disequilibrium: youths too educated to be satisfied with their traditional status, too untrained to participate in the new economy. Government jobs matter to them precisely for this reason. That is why they feel so much is still at stake in changing their legal classification to ST. All across North India, this disquieting possibility exists. Sub-groups within the broad classifications like OBC and SC feel that benefits under those classifications are going only to a few sub-castes. This issue is going to come to the political forefront in the coming years. When these groups get minimally educated and feel cheated that their education has not equipped them for much, a social catastrophe will be in the making. It is no accident that this agitation comes at the end of the decimation of quality higher education in Rajasthan, abetted by all parties.

Second, a slow and incipient culture of violence has been spreading through Rajasthan’s villages. Arms have become more ubiquitous, paradoxically because the few who have benefited from the increasing land values need guns to protect their new riches. But in several districts like Sawai Madhopur the state has been suffering attrition at the local level. It was perhaps symbolic that one of the first people to console the victims was a prominent local “anti-social element” to use the government’s bizarre euphemism. There are several districts in Rajasthan where the potential of recurring violence is increasing by the day: an odd combination of social discontent which can easily be hijacked by elements that are looking for a pretext to be violent.

Finally, there is an utter breakdown of the political process. Communities like the Gurjjars do not have a leadership that can take a long-term view. They feel for their community, but have no long-term vision for expanding opportunity for them. One indication of this is their harping on one theme, that the state government send a letter to the Centre recommending ST status for Gurjjars. This is not likely to end the legal issue, nor is it likely to seriously impact the spectre of alienation that hovers over the youth of the community.

The chief minister’s instinctive response to political problems is to respond with excessive force, as if the expression of any social discontent is simply a form of impunity. It is the state’s responsibility to quell violence. But it cannot do this if it does not back its might up with an intelligent political process. But the tragedy of Rajasthan is that there are very few social mediators left. It is not an accident that the chief minister has found it very difficult to reach out. The Gurjjars, on the other hand, are wary of letting Bainsala negotiate alone in Jaipur. Their last experience of negotiating was, many in the community feel, an exercise in bad faith. It is absolutely amazing that police firings are so rapidly on the rise. Even after so much experience dealing with crowds, the state has not found ways to manage them without large number of casualties. The Congress is, as always, timid at best, trapped in vague gestures of protest. In short, there is no political force that is capable of changing the paradigm within which questions of social inclusion are posed.

It would be comfortable to dismiss all of this as Rajasthan’s exceptionalism. But the truth is that our politics is driving us into an explosive cul de sac. The recent, terrible violence is a reminder of what happens to societies when they can neither endure their current social condition, nor the means to overcome it. It will take extraordinary political imagination to overcome this condition.

The writer is president,Centre for Policy Research, Delhi pratapbmehta@gmail.com

5th Day of Indefinite Hunger Strike

Youth For Equality activists from different medical colleges in Delhi have boycotted their classes and set on Indefinite Hunger Strike opposing OBC reservation in Higher Educational Institutions. More than 100 Students from Maulana Azad Medical College(MAMC), University College of Medical Sciences(UCMS), Lady Harding Medical College(LHMC) are on Indefinite Hunger Strike. Hunger Strike started on 22nd May morning at Maulana Azad Medical College(MAMC) premises.

Despite the repeated request from Principal Secretary Health who has visited the Hunger Strikers, the activists are firm on their decision to continue the strike. We do not oppose any caste or community but why the present generation will suffer the caste based discrimination.

IMA representatives visited MAMC today to raise the moral of the students and offered all possible cooperation. DMA followed the IMA to show solidarity. The interns of UCMS and MAMC joined the strike.

During April 2006 just after the declaration of reservation for OBCs in higher education by the Govt YFE protested vehemently against Caste based reservation and the whole nation has witnessed the protest. Then the matter went to Supreme Court and honorable Court has given its verdict.

After 2 years of protest the present situation is not at all different than whatever it was before. Now reservation is being given on the caste basis as it was before and we oppose it.

We will continue our strike till we achieve the goal of an INDIA FREE FROM CASTE BASED DISCRIMINATION.

YFE Activists at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) also joined the protest. Yesterday evening there was a candle march at Banaras City to show the solidarity with the Hunger strikers in Delhi.

We will spread this strike across the nation to defeat every attempts made by Govt to Divide the society on caste line.

We demand

* Rollback of reservations based on caste.
* Implementation of Right to Education Act which guarantees free, compulsory and quality education, a fundamental right of every child.
* Clarification, by the SUPREME COURT collegium, regarding the recent observation made by the honorable Chief Justice, regarding Creamy Layer -class concept/individual concept

We appeal all the law abiding citizens of this nation to come forward to save this nation from further division on caste line.

Hunger Strike in Delhi

May 22
Scores of anti-quota protestors have begun an indefinite hunger strike in the national capital accusing the government of circumventing the Supreme Court order on OBC quota.
Around 100 activists, under the aegis of ''Youth for Equality'', started their hunger strike at the Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi at 12:00 pm.
Protestors were alleging that the government was trying to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling by extending quota benefit to post graduate courses.
''We want the government to implement the quota order in its true spirit,'' an activist said.
The Supreme Court had on April 10 upheld the controversial law providing 27 per cent quota for OBCs in IITs, IIMs and other central educational institutions but excluded the ''creamy layer'' from its ambit.
From NDTV.com

Supreme Court Vacates the Stay

The Supreme Court on Friday vacated the Calcutta high court order staying implementation of 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes in post graduate courses including in the Indian Institutes of Management.
"We cannot allow Calcutta high court order to operate," a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said. "Can Calcutta high court sit over the order of the Supreme Court," the bench asked while vacating the stay.
The bench said that when the apex court had upheld the validity of the act providing the other backward class quota, where was the question of high court staying its implementation. However, the court said, subject to the final outcome of the matter before it, all admissions will be provisional in post graduate courses in central educational institutions under the act.
The court stayed all proceedings relating to the OBC quota that are pending in the high Courts of Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay. It also issued notice to those petitioners who were opposing the implementation of government memorandum in different high courts on the Centre's petition seeking transfer of those matters to the apex court.
From:www.rediff.com

OBC Quota Stayed by Calcutta High Court

In a jolt to the Centre, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday stayed quota for Other Backward Classes in post- graduate courses in the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and stopped the interview of OBC candidates for the same.
Justice Maharaj Sinha, in an ex-parte interim order, granted the stay on a petition by Sayan Guha, a B-Tech student challenging the Human Resource Ministry's memorandum and also the IIM-C interview scheduled for Thursday.
The interim order stayed the operation of the reservation clause of IIM prospectus and also the resolution of office memorandum dated April 20, 2008, passed by the HRD Ministry. The matter would come up for hearing again on June 9.
The IIM-C had scheduled the special interview of OBC students following the HRD memorandum. Guha's counsels Kishore Dutta and Nilava Bandopadhyay told the court that the office memo and the subsequent reservation clause were in violation of the April 10 Supreme Court order on reservation of OBCs, that had set a yardstick for such quotas and defined the creamy layer that would be out of the purview of reservation.
They said while the apex court had directed that graduates would not be considered for reservation, the HRD ministry had, in violation of that, passed an office memo to the effect that OBC students would get reservation in post-graduate courses. No counsel appeared for the HRD Ministry and the IIM-C.

Latest Update on Court Hearing

Today Mumbai High Court issued notice to the Government on the matterof implementation of OBC quota. The next hearing is scheduled on 23rdof June. The HRD Ministry sent its attorney for the hearing. The IIT-Band TISS lawyers were taken the view of Delhi High Court and soughttime to file answer. This is natural procedure as the court is goingto hear both sides before pronouncing any order.
Calcutta High Court is supposed to take the matter today as the HighCourt is approaching its summer break. Yesterday only our lawyersargued in front of the Division Bench to take the matter for earlyhearing. Justice Maharaj Singh had agreed to take the matter for anearly hearing.
On date 13th May 2008 the National Commission for Backward Classes wasbusy hearing the plea from the Jat Community of Delhi that they arethe real backward caste and deserve reservation. There was virtuallyno opposition except that of Youth For Equality's representation alongwith Ati Pichhda Varg Sangharsh Samiti. The house was full of Jats ofall age. YFE representatives Amit and Vikram had to struggle to enterand submit the representation infront of the Commission. Surprisinglythe Jats were degrading themselves infront of the commission andinfront of their own community. Only one opposition came along withYFE and the person was abused by the members of Jat community. Theperson had to say "look at them Mr. Chairman (Justice Ratnavale) howthey are behaving. If they can abuse me infront of the Commissionimagine what they can do at the village level. Do they look backwardfrom any angle". How disgusting a situation it was to see and hearthat powerful communities, one after another, taking pride indegrading their own self to get the benefit of reservation. VikramSingh, who was standing beside the podium, had allowed others to hearthe public hearing through his mobile phone. When the writer of thismail arrived at the Commission Amit and Vikram were flexing muscleswith the Jats present their to make their point. Finally we had torush to the personal chamber of the Member, NCBC to present our view.

Update on the Court Hearings

Now the Government is on its toe! The Honorable High Court of Delhi issued notice to the Centre asking to answer questions taken by the petitioner. The Court has given four weeks time to the centre to file its answer. After that the court will decide on the fate of the order. In between we are going to file another set of petition at the Delhi High Court covering other issues. Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared for our petition and tasked the government to answer the questions posed by the petitioner.In Mumbai the scene was quite different. The defence lawyer was caught unaware and admitted to deferred the result of Tata Institute of Social Science for fifteen days to facilitate the Court to give its verdict. The TISS lawyers have asked for a copy of the judgment to read and come with an answer. Day after again the hearing will be resumed at the Mumbai High Court. The High Court also ordered the petitioner (Youth For Equality/Doctors For You) to sent one copy of the petition to the HRD Ministry with immediate effect. Ad. Anil Joshi appearing for YFE prevailed at the High Court. Our Mumbai YFEians have already dispatched a copy of the petition without losing time. Tomorrow the Calcutta High Court will take the case. Our friends there working overtime to appear at the Court. Also tomorrow another important presentation to be made infront of the National Backward Classes Commission. Amit Srivastav and Vikram Singh will be appearing before the public hearing in front of Justice Ratnavale at the NCBC to oppose the inclusion of Jat in Delhi in Central List as backward caste. The hearing will be resume at 11AM. Vikram and Amit are representatives of Delhi based ATI-PICHHADA VARG SANGHARSH SAMITI. They will present the view on the said samiti's behalf.
YFE is also going to make a presentation along with Citizen For Equality.

Photos of PROTEST in New Delhi on 6th May

Dr Anbumani Ramadoss must RESIGN Now

Youth For Equality welcomes the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order of 8th May 2008, which struck down the AIIMS Amendment Act 2007 and consequently reinstated Dr. P. Venugopal as Director of AIIMS. This order from the apex court proved that the argument of eminent jurist Fali S. Nariman infront of the Supreme Court. Mr. Nariman argued before the Supreme Court terming the act as an “Extremely hostile and discriminatory law singularly made to publicly humiliate an eminent doctor”.

Youth For Equality demands the resignation of Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who has taken corrupt, illegal and fraud route to remove Dr. P. Venugopal from the post of AIIMS’ Director. This is also a reminder to the Manmohan Singh Government not to temper law in the name of majoritarian rule. Even imposition of emergency was also a majority decision by the Parliament, which was wrong. The point of Youth For Equality is “Parliament is not infallible”.

AIIMS is the apex health care centre of India. All efforts should be made to improve the health of the country through this institution. Politics must not swamp the faith, reputation and high respect through the high degree of patient care AIIMS earned over the years.

Youth for Equality hits back. Protest in New Delhi

6th May 2008, 6.15p.m.
In protest of Govt's move to implement reservation in PG level courses Youth For Equality formed a human chain of students from institutions across Delhi like Delhi University, JNU,GGSIPU, MAMC, UCMS, DCE and AIIMS. Around 500 students formed human chain with Banners and posters at inner circle of Connought Place (central Park). Then students marched towards janpath with the effigy of Mr Arjun Singh (HRD Minister) and blocked the traffic for more than half an hour at Janpath and burnt the effigy of Arjun Singh. The march was aimed towards the residence of Ms Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson UPA, however they were prevented to move forward at Janpath. Police used water cannon to disperse the mass but the students who are deeply hurt by the manipulation of Supreme Courts order in Implementing OBC Quota, they resisted.

Around 350 students were arrested from Janpath and are detained at Parliament Street Police station. Students are not released till now(At this time).
Our demands are:

ü No extension of reservation beyond graduation as per the Court's order.
ü No manipulation in Creamy layer limit.
ü Fresh list of beneficiaries has to be furnished by Govt before implementing reservation.
ü Before implementing reservation Infrastructure must be made available in order to retain the quality of education.
ü Time bound reservation.

We are gearing up this protest; if Govt goes ahead with such autocratic attitude in implementing reservation then we will go for nation wide agitation.

With Best regards

Arjun Singh and MHRD Exposed

The government is trying its best to implement the 27% OBC reservation from this academic year but is not keeping the promise of not reducing the seats of the general category. The government is also trying to misread the judgement of the Supreme Court.

A RTI filed to the Ministry of HRD by Youth for Equality to know the status of the implementation of the recommendations by Moily Oversight Committee, unraveled some shocking facts implying that Mr. Arjun Singh seems to be taking the nation for a ride. The images are available for view below.

What action is being taken to ensure that the seats for general category will not be affected because of the reservations?

You say you will increase the seats and the infrastructure, but can you do it without the appointment of teachers. That is great, Mr Arjun Singh!

The government is in the election year and is just finding ways to implement the quotas without doing any homework. It seems they are just not bothered about the education in the country.

What a new low is this in the politics of India?

Its high time for all of us to stand and get ourselves counted.

“When evil forces unite, it is time for the good to join hands and become a force.”

If you are willing to join YFE and support this cause please contact them on yfemumbai@gmail.com

Volunteers Required in Mumbai and Kolkata urgently

The YFE has filed few PILs all over the country. The PIL is about the governmnet circumventing the judgement of the Supreme Court and its inclination to implement reservations in PG courses. We are looking for few petitioners who can help us in filing the petition all over the country. If you are willing to become one of the petitioner then mail us at the following email address or call Dr Gunjan Sharma on 9224460881
drravikantkem@yahoo.co.in
aditya_mithe@rediffmail.com
rs.rishabh@gmail.com
yfemumbai@gmail.com
This is the time to stand for the cause and get yourself counted. The government is trying to fool everyone. We need to challenge them. This is your time. Please come forward and support the movement.
Remember actions are always of greater value than giving mere reactions!

Minister wants RESERVATIONS in Judiciary

CHENNAI: Minister of State Parliamentary Affairs and Planning V. Narayanasamy said Thursday that social justice would be complete if only reservation was extended to the judiciary.
At a meeting organised by the All-India Federation of Other Backward Classes Employees Welfare Association to felicitate him, he said the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, providing the OBCs with 27 per cent reservation should be included in the IX Schedule of the Constitution to insulate it from judicial interference.
Mr. Narayanasamy also demanded that a Parliament Standing Committee be set up for the OBCs. “We have submitted a memorandum, on behalf of the OBC MPs Forum, to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and he told us that he fully agreed with us,” he said.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Industries V. Hanumantha Rao said reservation in the judiciary was necessary to ensure that the people got right judgments.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president M. Krishnasamy wanted the creamy layer to go, “as it is a stumbling block for the talented OBC students.”

Protest against all odds

More than 300 activists of Youth For Equality gathered at the Supreme Court and staged a peaceful dharana at the Supreme Court lpremises and demanded the Goverment to implement the recent Court judgment in letter and spirit.Our demands were:

No reservation beyond graduation level. Supreme Court is categorical to refuse OBC reservation at the Post-Graduation level.

Identify reviewed castes for the purpose of OBC reservation. Supreme Court ordered the government to come with a new list not the decade old list of OBCs

Without the proper increase of infrastructure no reservation. Till date there is not a single rupee spent on infrastructure increase as per the RTI answer from the HRD

Supreme Court is unanimous to review the reservation policy. A Judicial Commission for the review of the OBC reservation

Maintain proper cut-off mark for the selection of OBC candidate as per the Supreme Court ruling.

Later on the YFE activists were brutally handled by the police. Several members suffered serious injuries and some of them required hospitalization. Susequently, large number of YFE members were arrested and taken away to Tilak Nagar Police Station.

See the video

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/aiims-docs-barge-into-sc-to-protest-against-quota/63951-3.html

http://www.youtube.com/v/NDHcTUEYhCk

Charter of Demands

“How far that little candle throws his beam! So shines a good deed in a weary world” so said William Shakespeare. What Youth For Equality has aspired was good deed in a weary world! The OBC Reservation in the present context is nothing sort of organized loot by the most powerful community of the society. The Supreme Court Judgment regarding the OBC reservation tried to put a permanent break – gradually! As the five judge constitution bench was not unanimous in their opinion, majority judgment is what going to be counted. In his judgment Justice Raveendran said “To start with, the effect of reservation may appear to perpetuate caste. The immediate effect of caste based reservation has been rather unfortunate. In the pre-reservation era people wanted to get rid of the backward tag -- either social or economical. But post reservation, there is a tendency even among those who are considered as 'forward', to seek 'backward' tag, in the hope of enjoying the benefits of reservations. When more and more people aspire for 'backwardness' instead of 'forwardness' the country itself stagnates. Be that as it may. Reservation as an affirmative action is required only for a limited period to bring forward the socially and educationally backward classes by giving them a gentle supportive push. But if there is no review after a reasonable period and if reservation is continued, the country will become a caste divided society permanently. Instead of developing an united society with diversity, we will end up as a fractured society for ever suspicious of each other. While affirmative discrimination is a road to equality, care should be taken that the road does not become a rut in which the vehicle of progress gets entrenched and stuck. Any provision for reservation is a temporary crutch. Such crutch by unnecessary prolonged use, should not become a permanent liability.” There are certain very promising points in the judgment pronounced by majority of judges.

1. Exclusion of Creamy layer.

Justice Bhandari said “For a valid method of creamy layer exclusion, the Government may use its post-Sawhney I criteria as a template. I further urge the Government to exclude the children of former and present Members of the Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies and the said O.M. be amended accordingly.” Justice Pasayat and Justice Thackker said “Inclusion of castes in the list of backward classes cannot be mechanical and cannot be done without adequate relevant data. Nor can it be done for extraneous reasons. Likewise, periodic examination of a backward class could lead to its exclusion if it ceases to be socially backward or if it is adequately represented in the services. Once backward, always backward is not acceptable. In any case, the "creamy layer" has no place in the reservation system.”

2. A person is not educationally backward if he becomes a graduate. This means there should not be any reservation for OBCs in Post graduation.

Justice Bhandari said “once a candidate graduates from a university, the said candidate is educationally forward and is ineligible for special benefits under Article 15(5) of the Constitution for post graduate and any further studies thereafter.” Justice Pasayat and Justice Thackker said “While determining backwardness, graduation (not technical graduation) or professional shall be the standard test yardstick for measuring backwardness.”

3. Merit has been recognized by the Supreme Court in no uncertain terms.

Justice Pasayat and Justice Thackker said “the Central Government shall examine as to the desirability of fixing a cut off marks in respect of the candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). By way of illustration it can be indicated that five marks grace can be extended to such candidates below the minimum eligibility marks fixed for general categories of students. This would ensure quality and merit would not suffer”. Both the Judges further said “The philosophy and pragmatism of universal excellence through equality of opportunity for education and advancement across the nation is part of the constitutional creed. It is, therefore, the best and most meritorious students that must be selected for admission to technical institutions and medical colleges and no citizen an be regarded as outsider in the constitutional set-up without serious detriment to the `unity and integrity' of the nation. The Supreme Court has laid down that so far as admissions to post graduate course such as MS, MD and the like are concerned, it would be imminently desirable not to provide for any reservation based on residence or institutional preference. The need of a region or institution cannot prevail at the

highest scale of specialty where the best skill or talent must be hand-picked by selecting them according to capability. At the level of Ph.D., M.D. or levels of higher proficiency where international measure of talent is made, where losing one great scientist or technologist in the making is a national loss, the considerations we have expanded upon as important, lose their potency.”

Justice Bhandari said “In the case of higher education, the universities that admit the best will likely churn out the best. The point is that universities alone cannot produce qualified job candidates. Forced to admit students with lower marks, the university's final product will not be as strong. I urge the Government to set OBC cut off marks no lower than 10 marks below that of the general category.”

4. Unfilled OBC seats in absence of qualified OBC candidates will go to general category candidates.

Justice Bhandari said “The Government need not always provide the maximum limit. Reasonable cut off marks should be set so that standards of excellence greatly effect. The unfilled seats should revert to the general category.” Justice Pasayat said “If any seats remain vacant after adopting such norms they shall be filled up by candidates from general categories.”

5. Unaided institutions are out of quota purview.

While answering the question ‘does the 93rd Amendment violate the Basic Structure of the Constitution by imposing reservation on unaided institutions?’ Justice Bhandari categorically said “Yes, it does. Imposing reservation on unaided institutions violates the Basic Structure by stripping citizens of their fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) to carry on an occupation.”

6. Importance of Primary Education in place of quota has been established.

Justice Bhandari in his judgment said “The Parliament should fix a deadline by which time free and compulsory education will have reached every child. This must be done within six months, as the right to free and compulsory education is perhaps the most important of all the fundamental rights. For without education, it becomes extremely difficult to exercise other fundamental rights.”

The Government is of the habit of misreading the judgment and sabotaging justice. Youth For Equality is planning to file a series of petition in case the government try any kind of dilly dallying with the just implementation of the landmark judgment.

Excerpts of Article in Indian Express from Meghnad Desai

Indian democratic politics has, however, used the Mandal labels in a very different way. It has encouraged more and more groups to get into a race of being More OBC than Thou. No political party has any incentive in arguing that jati status is not a foolproof indicator of social and economic backwardness. There are, as Mayawati has discovered, poor Brahmins and rich OBCs. This is because economic development over the last hundred years has allowed opportunities for some individuals in ritually backward jatis and indeed for some jatis themselves to move up the social and economic ladder.

Mandal and democratic compulsions invite us to abandon this path. No matter how prosperous a backward jati will become, it will keep the label and it will be in the interest of every jati to hang on to the backward label since it is a passport to public favours. The recent agitation by Gujjars has shown that the stakes for being labelled as backward are very high, and in a democratic culture there will be competitive populism to accord such status to whoever promises the vote bank to a party.

But the die is now cast. Parliament legislated reservations and now the Supreme Court has validated the legislation. There are caveats about the creamy layer but I predict that Lok Sabha will not be in a hurry to implement the Supreme Court’s injunctions about extending the definition of creamy layer to themselves and ex-MPs. I wish that were a precondition before reservations could be implemented.

My hope is that the decision will achieve the good it wishes to. My expectation is that it will not. This is because the real problem of social deprivation for the SCs, STs, OBCs is in primary schools and secondary schools where the foundations of failure are laid and no political party, whatever its rhetoric, is grasping that nettle. Every one is for reserving seats at the top of the pyramid and joining the creamy layer of IITs and IIMs. But between the top layer of rich upper castes and the creamy layers of the beneficiaries of reservations, there is a large slice of India. They cannot escape Indian higher education by going abroad as the rich can, nor can they get into the top institutions by merit. As of now no political party wishes to champion them but they constitute a fertile ground of the disaffected whose bitterness will be harvested by some party sooner or later.

From Indian Express: http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/297276.html

Three and Half Cheers!

The Supreme Court deserves a full three and a half cheers for its judgment that effectively blocks reservations for the OBC "creamy layer". The first cheer is for bringing in the issue of class when any policy is recommended for the OBCs. If one goes back to the Constitution, this is exactly what the doctors had ordered on this matter.

The second cheer is for retaining the authority to judicially review any government definition of who constitutes the "creamy layer". The third cheer is because the court clearly spelt out that when seeking admission to colleges and universities the difference in marks between OBCs and the rest should be no more than 10%. The remaining half cheer is for insisting that OBC reservations be reviewed every five years. This last decree cannot be dodged as easily as political statements of intentions can. After all, this is a Supreme Court decision.

Still waters may run deep, but still milk sits at the top. If there is a creamy layer among OBCs it only shows that the fortunes of those at the bottom have not been stirred for a very long time. It is not as if one can easily ask the question: If you are so rich how come you are not an OBC? It is often difficult to separate the majority of OBCs from the scheduled castes because their lives have so much in common. This is why poverty strikes before death as the great leveller.

The OBC elite has so far not cared to stir ambitions at the bottom. They instinctively know that should this ever happen it would dilute their political and economic pre-eminence within their communities. OBC elites have run governments in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for several terms but the conditions of poor "backwards", let alone those of the scheduled castes, have generally remained unchanged. What progress has occurred among these people is not because of state effort, but in spite of it.

In large tracts where OBCs have ruled for decades one only sees remnants of roads once built. Government schools are dysfunctional in every conceivable way. But when drop-out rates get alarmingly high, teachers in these institutions fill in student attendance sheets so that their salary scales are not disturbed. In Aurai district in Bihar, we actually saw a school where the headmaster was basking in the winter sun with not a student in sight.

The OBC creamy layer has done little over these years to improve basic livelihood conditions of the poor on whose shoulders their political fortunes ride. Though OBC leaders ran Bihar and UP governments for several terms these states are still underdeveloped.

The OBC elite has, however, consistently kept up the pressure for seats in IITs, IIMs and in high-end private sector jobs. Things have come to such a pass that well-to-do OBCs now openly advocate that their elite status be further secured by government patronage. It matters little to them that the majority continues to sulk at the bottom.

Tamil Nadu is often used as a legitimising model by OBC activists. What we need to keep in mind is that as far back as the 1930s Travancore state had a literacy rate that Bihar struggles to attain even today. The Tamil Nadu model becomes more farcical when we notice that the line that separates OBC students from non-OBC ones is neither firm nor deep.

For instance, as Shiv Chaudhary has shown, in Tamil Nadu’s 2005 MBBS entrance tests, the difference in the cut-off marks between the general and the reserved categories was as low as 0.08 per cent. Naturally, with such a negligible percentage variation, the OBCs crowd the general category over and above occupying those seats that are reserved for them. Consequently, the rest of the non-OBC population is seriously unrepresented in these colleges.

This graphically demonstrates that Tamil Nadu OBCs have always had an entrenched elite stratum. OBC leaders among Gounders, Vanniyars, Thevars and Marawas were, and continue to be, powerful on every social axis. Therefore, when their educational profile is as good as, if not better than, the general category, it obviously means that they never did, and do not now, deserve reservations. True, these so-called backwards are not Brahmins, but if they can kick the priests in the teeth what good is it to have a mouthful of Sanskrit?

The Tamil Nadu backwards played on the textbook image of the rapacious Brahmin though in every province, with the slight exception of Thanjavur, the once-priestly class enjoys no dominance. Power was always in the hands of OBC elite who did well in the past and continue to do well even today. If one is to believe human development figures then the status of Tamil Nadu Dalits has remained unchanged over all these years of OBC rule. Is this why Tamil Nadu has so far failed to produce a Mayawati as its chief minister?

True to form, Mayawati has again stolen a march over her competitors. Reading between the lines of the judgment she has staked a claim that reservations also be based on poverty levels. She knows full well that this would naturally include her traditional supporters, for both the scheduled castes and the OBCs are almost always wretchedly poor. In fact, during the time it takes the OBC elites to rub the stars from their eyes she might add a few more to her electoral kitty.

Dipankar Gupta(In TOI Dated:15/04/08)
(The writer is professor of sociology at JNU.)

Reservations should not perpetuate Casteism.

The Supreme Court, while holding that the `creamy layer' among the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes be kept out of the purview of reservation, which shall not exceed 50 per cent, has cautioned the Government that excess quota will result in "reverse discrimination."

"Equality of opportunity has two different and distinct concepts. There is a conceptual distinction between a non-discrimination principle and affirmative action under which the state is obliged to provide a level playing-field to the oppressed classes," said a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal.

"It is the equality in fact which has to be decided looking at the ground reality. Balancing comes in where the question concerns the extent of reservation. If the extent of reservation goes beyond the cut-off point then it results in reverse discrimination. Anti-discrimination legislation has a tendency of pushing towards de facto reservation. Therefore, a numerical benchmark is the surest immunity against charges of discrimination."

The Bench said, "Reservation is necessary for transcending caste and not for perpetuating it. Reservation has to be used in a limited sense, otherwise it will perpetuate casteism in the country."

Dealing with the extent of reservation, the Bench, quoting the Indra Sawhney judgment (Mandal case), said the 50 per cent rule should be applied, otherwise the open competition channel would get choked for some years and meanwhile general category candidates might become age barred and ineligible.

Constitutional requirements

"We reiterate that the ceiling limit of 50 per cent reservation, the concept of creamy layer and the compelling reasons, namely, backwardness, inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency are all constitutional requirements without which the structure of equality of opportunity under Article 16 would collapse."

The judges said: "The equality of opportunity under Article 16 (1) is for each individual citizen, while the special provision under Article 16 (4) is for socially disadvantaged classes. Both should be balanced and neither should be allowed to eclipse the other."

Human dignity

The Bench said: "The state is free to exercise its discretion of providing for reservation subject to limitations, namely, that there must exist compelling reasons of backwardness [and] inadequacy of representation in a class of post(s), keeping in mind the overall administrative efficiency. It is the duty of the state to not only protect human dignity but also facilitate it by taking positive steps in that direction."

It said: "If the extent of reservation is excessive then it makes inroads into the principle of equality under Article 16 (1). Backwardness and inadequacy of representation are compelling reasons for the State governments to provide representation in public employment. Therefore, if in a given case the court finds excessive reservation under the State enactment, such an enactment is liable to be struck down since it would amount to derogation of the constitutional requirements."

Vesting of the power by an enabling provision (to provide for quotas) might be constitutionally valid.

"Yet the exercise of the power by the State in a given case may be arbitrary, particularly, if the State fails to identify and measure backwardness and inadequacy keeping in mind the efficiency of service as they are intimately connected."

Latest News on OBC Quota Judgement

Now the full Judgment of the Supreme Court is with us including that of Justice Raveendran: it does not say anything new.Now three things are final:

1 Creamy layer is out.

2. Educational forwardness is defined and no quota beyond graduation.

3 No reservation in unaided institutions.

Other points :

The Govt will have to declare the identification criteria for SEBCs, which will be open to Court scrutiny.

Why the court did not struck down the amendment or act?

It would have created another set of political onslaught on the judiciary and could have lead to another amendment or another act with foolproof measures!

What we have got out of this judgment?

The judgment is for eternity! We can refer to this judgment for various purposes. Apart from what is above - Justice Pasayat/Thackker and Justice Bhandari categorically said if there is more than 50% matriculate or +2 available in a particular caste that caste must be removed from the list of backward category.

Justice Pasayat in his para 122 said: AIIMS is a centre of excellence so must be exempted from Quota!

What we are doing now?

Apart from meeting the senior lawyers to decide the future of the case we are keeping an eye on the political development. We have sounded our IIM friends at IIM - Ahemadabad and IIM-Bangalore to remain alert to any malafide intension of the HRD Ministry. The IIM has not yet got any official communication to implement quota! If and once they got it we are expecting a Fax copy of the same to produce it at the Court!

We are specific to take the matter to court if there is any sabotage of the court order and no one may remain ambivalent on that. The Government is harboring a habit of saying all court order as Obiter Dicta (advice)! They have said so during the 9th schedule judgment and during the Stay order of this reservation also. Justice Pasayat told in no uncertain terms in the past that "In 1989 I became a judge of Delhi High Court. Since then I stopped giving advice. I only give order!" We must remain patient and contribute whatever way possible.

Today only a cabinet meeting is scheduled! Our friends from IP University are in touch with the national and international media to track place and development of the proposed meeting!

Much is needed to be done! All are requested to remain vigilant and prepare to take responsibility.

The supporters of the quota are ruthless and going to the nasty extent! We have to remain offensive as defense is more difficult than offence.

New Contact Details

Please note the following change in the contacts of Youth for Equality, Mumbai.
Email: yfemumbai@gmail.com

Helpline:
9224460881
9324334359
9892757958

Feel free to contact if you have any queries or suggestions.

A day after, SC questions effectiveness of quotas

Even though the Supreme Court allowed 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in Central educational institutions, it has raised questions on the effectiveness of such a policy for bringing equality in the society.

"There is no deletion from the list of other backward classes. It goes on increasing, is it that backwardness has increased instead of decreasing? If the answer is yes, as contended by the respondents (Centre and other pro-quota parties), then one is bound to raise eyebrows as to the effectiveness of providing reservations or quotas," Justices Arijit Pasayat and C K Thakker said.

"The inequalities are to be removed. Yet the fact that there has been no exclusion raises a doubt about the real concern to remove inequality," he said while pointing out that since the concept of OBC came into picture there has been no deletion of any caste from the category.

The SC asked the Centre to deliberate whether the reservation policy followed since Independence had been effective in achieving the desired result.

"If after nearly six decades the objectives have not been achieved, necessarily the need for its continuance warrants deliberations," the SC said.

"It is to be noted that some of the provisions were intended to be replaced after a decade but have continued. It directly shows that backwardness appears to have purportedly increased and not diminished," the judges said adding that the affirmative action had got somewhat complicated in India on account of caste politics.

From: www.indianexpress.com
Date:11/04/08

Celebrate and Prepare yourself for Battle ahead!

Dear Supporter,

First of all YFE must celebrate the judgment with champagne!

What has happened during the last 14 hours!

Judgment came at 10.30! Utter confusion prevailed among YFEians! Senior Advocate K.K. Venugopal summoned to his Supreme Court cubicle! Spoken for 30 minutes and looked very encouraged! Volunteer to fight the case for the nitty gritty!
Harish Shalve was happy and deciphered no quota at P.G. Level.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar called and committed to support YFEians.
Prof. R. Srivinas from Mumbai called and expressed full support in any form.

A group of lawyers volunteered to study and come with a series of question and review petition to be filed soon!

Dr. Shiv Choudhary, now in US, spoiled his sleep and gone through the verdict 370 pages and sent his feedback and directives!

Prof. Indiresan and Dr. Binod Khaitan reached to the media with the most calculated version of YFE response!

More is happening and the YFEians working overtime!

The countdown has begun! YFE has got more than what it demanded! Educational Forwardness has been defined by the Supreme Court and the redefinition of quota politics is in vogue. A Graduate is no more backward - the out come of the verdict - Majority judgment - no quota in Post Graduation education!

There are other thing in this judgment. Justice Ravindran's judgment has not yet been uploaded! Tomorrow the collective conclusion and Ravindran's judgment will be collected from the SC and to be scanned and send to all!

What is the response -

YFE welcomes this decision!
For the first time educational forwardness has been taken into consideration and it is an idea of YFE!
The sound bite quota for Creamy Layer by the political class fall flat! YFE welcomes this!
Merit has been accepted as the most paramount factor in education! The difference between general and quota candidate must not exceed 5%!
Identification will be more stringent and specific!
No quota in private unaided educational institution and this is final!

What YFE will and must do in future!

Tell the civil society - they want excellence - better doctors, engineer, teachers or intellectual pigmy!
When politics decide your future, decide what your politics must be!
Fighting election is no more an option but must be an unavoidable reality!
There is strong undercurrent of unrest all over the country! YFE must capture this dissatisfication!
At the legal front there must be a series of petition on each and every irrational issues and who knows such kind of gifted judgment we may get!


http://www.judis.nic.in/supremecourt/CaseRes1.aspx

All are requested to work for YFE in some form or in other! Contribute in any possible form and volunteer to work for the upcoming petition, election, social work, research and maintaining the high morals!

The time has come to raise our heads over the stormy water!

YFE never started to get satisfied with a verdict favorable or otherwise! The destiny of the nation must be changed by us only! If the time has not yet come - LET US PREPONE IT!

Youth For Equality
Celebrate and prepare yourself as a tough battle lies ahead.

Landmark Judgememnt Today; YFE Vindicated

In the landmark judgement today YFE has been vindicated by the Honourable Supreme Court.

In the judgement pronounced by the Apex court following were the main points:-

Supreme Court upholds 27 per cent Other Backward Caste (OBC) quota in educational institutions
No to creamy layer in 27 per cent OBC quota
Reservations in educational institutions now 49.5 per cent
No decision on OBC quota in private colleges
No harm in implementing OBC quota this year
Review of OBC quota list every five years
Children of former, current MPs and MLAs to be excluded from quota
No OBC quota in IIMs, AIIMS.

Highlights of Quota Verdict

As soon as we get more details that will be posted on this site.

# Supreme Court upholds 27% OBC quota in educational institutions

# Supreme Court says no to creamy layer in 27% OBC quota

# Reservations in educational institutions now 49.5%

# Supreme Court: No decision on OBC quota in private colleges

# Supreme Court: No harm in implementing OBC quota this year

# Supreme Court: Review of OBC quota list every five years

# Children of former, current MPs and MLAs to be excluded from quota

Supreme Court Verdict Today

The fate of the 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in higher educational institutions will be decided by the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The apex court will decide whether the Centre was legally right to provide OBC quotas in higher educational institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS).

The court had put the quota on hold in 2007 after several petitions challenged it.

The key objection in the case is that the government based the quota on a 1931 survey.

The petitions also say that the creamy layer should not get reservation benefits and that the OBC quota will divide the society.

The OBC quota proposal had even led to widespread protests both for and against. However, the 27 per cent quota was passed unanimously by Parliament.

Now, if the court gives the go-ahead, the 27 percent quota could be implemented from 2008.

Source:http://www.NDTV.com

Obituary

This is to bring to your kind attention that one of the most prominent face and active member of YFE Mumbai, Vinit Shah, met an unfortunate accident in Panvel on 19/12/07 and succumbed to the injuries. Youth For Equality prays for the family of deceased. May God gives the family of Vinit, courage and strength in this difficult time.
May his soul rests in peace.














This is the one of the post of Vinit, which appeared in New Mumbai Times recently.
Stop hoardings!
Posted On Thursday, November 29, 2007

Panvel-based NGO has dragged BMC, NMMC and state government into high court on the issue of hoardings

Irked by ugly looking hoardings, a Panvel resident filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the state, municipal corporations of Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mumbai in the high court.

The case was called for hearing recently, in which chief justice Swaeanter Kumar has asked the government to frame a policy to curb this hoarding menace. Vinit Shah, the third year student of Bio-technology from DY Patil College, who went to court against hoardings, said, "Final verdict in the case (registration no is PIL/111/2007) is still awaited. I am, however, happy with the way the case has unfolded so far."

When asked why he lodged a PIL, Shah said, "Navi Mumbai is a new city and the hoardings are making it look ugly. Hoardings of politicians' birthdays, festive messages, etc are very irritating. These hoardings spoil the city's beauty and the messages are also irrelevant for most of the residents."

Shah, who runs Manavta Parmodharma Youth Organisation adds, "We used PIL as per the advise of our advocate HS Venegavkar. The hoarding menace needs to be discouraged, but in a legal way. Sources allege that most of the politicians never pay a fee for hoardings, which is terrible."

Hoardings put up during the festive season can be annoying at times, but does the city really crave to get rid of these hoardings? New Bombay Plus finds out..."During festivals and otherwise also, there are so many hoardings put up weirdly. They take almost two feet space from the road, which is already quite narrow.

Especially in the night, when vehicles enter Vashi, near Vashi Plaza, the banners are vaguely placed," said Nitin Patil, a Vashi resident. Some people have objections against brightly coloured hoardings. According to Amit Gupta, a Nerul resident, "After Vashi toll naka, there are many hoardings that are too bright and irritating while driving."

However, for societies that shelter these hoardings, it's a boon. In Vashi Shivaji Chowk, near Vashi depot, the buildings that host hoardings make big money.

According to Amardeep Singh from Ronak Advertising agency, "Generally, for 40/20 ft size hoarding, we pay about Rs 40,000 to 80,000 per annum, though rates vary, depending on the location. Usually, we book buildings for about 5-7 years, but from the past few months, NMMC has stopped issuing permission for the hoardings. There are societies that still approach us, as they also make good money out of hoardings."

When asked, secretary Dr SH Thorat from Arti society in sector 2, Vashi said, "In Mumbai, there are so many societies that are making crores of rupees through hoardings. We only make a few lakhs from it."
However, there are societies, which have given applications for hoardings.

Says Mahendra Kumar, a resident from Basera Society in sector 17, "If hoardings can save the money for society maintenance, then I have no problem in supporting it. Most of us would be happy to save money as society maintenance is increasing almost every year."

According to J Patnigire, deputy municipal commissioner (encroachment), "NMMC has already stopped issuing permission for hoardings. However, during festivals, temporary permissions are issued." About the case, Patnigire said, "The matter is in court and it would not be right to comment on it."

Navi Mumbai is a new city and the hoardings are making it look ugly. Hoardings of politicians' birthdays, festive messages, etc are very irritating. These hoardings spoil the city's beauty and the messages are also irrelevant for most of the residents.

Vinit Shah, ManavtaParmodharma Youth