The Hindu : National : PMK rally for OBC quota

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

National

National

PMK rally for OBC quota

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Cadres of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on Tuesday held a rally at Jantar Mantar here, demanding that the Centre immediately bring in an ordinance to implement the proposed reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in institutes of higher learning.

Led by four party Lok Sabha members — E. Ponnuswamy, A. K. Moorthy, Raman Senthil and K. Dhanaraju — a large number of party activists raised slogans supporting reservation and demanded that the private sector be also brought under the quota net.

Claiming that the PMK had been fighting for the cause of dalits and other backward and deprived communities, Mr. Ponnuswamy said as it would take a long time to bring a Bill on the issue, the Centre should immediately promulgate an Ordinance to implement the proposed 27 per cent quota.

Stating that doctors and students belonging to the elite section of society who formed a miniscule two per cent of the entire population were protesting the proposed move, Mr. Ponnuswamy said there was no reason for them to strike work. "Reservation for OBCs is a constitutional provision and should be implemented immediately," he said.

Mr. Dhanaraju hailed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Human Resource Minister Arjun Singh's initiative for giving the deprived sections their due.

"We will continue to raise the voice of the silent majority who desperately need reservation. The anti-reservation movement cannot suppress the voice of the majority for long," he said.

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