NEW DELHI: Oversight Committee Chairman Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said every effort would be made to maintain the "merit environment" in Central educational institutions while implementing 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

He said, "We want to turn this conflict situation into one with opportunities for all." The Committee was open to suggestions from all, including the agitating students and doctors, he said.

Briefing mediapersons here after the first meeting of the 13-member committee — set up by the Government on Monday to monitor the implementation of OBC reservation in Central educational institutions — Mr. Moily said members of his committee and the five other sub-committees would work overtime to ensure that the report is ready by August 31.

"It will be a comprehensive road map," he said to a question on whether intake of students could be increased and necessary infrastructure put in place by the next academic year.

To meet today

With time being at a premium, the Oversight Committee will meet again on Wednesday as four members could not attend Tuesday's two-hour-long meeting.

Besides the members of the Oversight Committee, the Finance Secretary to the Government also attended the meeting.

Secretaries to the Union Ministries of Law, and Social Justice & Empowerment have been invited to Wednesday's meeting as have the chairpersons of the five sub-committees.

Sub-committees formed

While the Union Human Resource Development Ministry constituted three sub-committees — one each for engineering, management institutions and Central universities — on Monday, the Health Ministry announced its committee for Central health institutions on Tuesday and the Agriculture Ministry is expected to follow suit within the next 24 hours.

The Health Ministry's sub-committee will be headed by Director-General of Health Services R.K. Srivastava and will have as its members the directors of the nine Central health institutes where OBC reservation will be implemented.

Terms of reference

At Tuesday's meeting, the Oversight Committee discussed its terms of reference, worked out the modalities for functioning as well as drew up a list of inputs it would require to undertake the task ahead.

Though the five sub-committees have been asked to quantify institution-wise the increase in intake to account for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in such a manner that the general category remains unaffected and specify the infrastructure requirements to accommodate the corresponding surge in admissions, the Oversight Committee is also likely to visit the Central educational institutions to make its own assessment of ground realities.

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