CHENNAI: Speakers at a seminar held to celebrate the 83rd birthday of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi stressed the need for implementation of the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Central higher educational institutions.

Addressing the meet, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said there was no hesitation or vacillation on the part of the United Progressive Alliance Government on the question of extending the reservation benefit to the OBC.

Recalling that the UPA steering committee recently adopted a resolution stressing the need for the quota system in educational institutions of excellence, he said the Government would not act against it.

The Government would resort to necessary legal measures to ensure its implementation.

Mr. Chidambaram said implementation of reservation in education and employment became important in view of the absence of a level playing field.

Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers Ramvilas Paswan said those who opposed reservation for Dalits and OBCs had been working against social justice and secularism. He stressed the need for doing away with capitation fee, which prevented the socially and economically backward from entering higher educational institutions.

"Extend benefits"

The reservation benefits guaranteed in the Constitution for Scheduled Castes should be extended to Christian converts belonging to these Castes, he said. He appealed to the Dalits and OBCs to strive for safeguarding social justice from communal and casteist forces.

Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss said the UPA Government should act fast and ensure that reservation was implemented in the private sector too. He commended Mr. Karunanidhi for his initiative to adopt a resolution in the Assembly urging the Centre to promulgate an ordinance for the implementation of 27 per cent reservation in Central educational institutions with immediate effect. He had written to the Chief Ministers of other States requesting them to follow this example. There was no room for compromise on the reservation issue, he said. There was no need for the formation of a panel headed by Veerappa Moily.

He said the pro-reservation forces should intensify their agitation to highlight demands such as reservation in judiciary and media.

Long struggle

Union Shipping Minister T.R. Baalu recalled the history of the struggle for reservation in the State. Reservation was the right of the people who had been denied social justice, he said, adding that the UPA Government had formed the Group of Ministers to go into the nuances of the issue before implementing the quota system in the private sector. The meet was addressed, among others, by Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission M. Naganathan, Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani, Central committee member of the CPI(M) W.R. Varadarajan, State CPI secretary D. Pandian, and head of theKunrakudi Mutt, Ponnambala Adigalar.

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