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Centre sought AIADMK help to draft quota Bill: Jayalalithaa

Special Correspondent

"But did not adopt the proposals given by the party"

Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa on Saturday said the Centre had sought her party's help, nearly a couple of years ago, in drafting a Bill to provide reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

In a statement here, Ms. Jayalalithaa said though all these days she had chosen not to disclose the facts in this regard, she had to reveal them now out of compulsion.

Close on the heels of the verdict of the seven judges Bench of the Supreme Court in the P.A. Inamdar Case on August 12, 2005 with regard to reservation in educational institutions, Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh had called a meeting of the parliamentary parties, she recalled.

Act lauded

After the AIADMK presented its views in writing, Mr. Singh contacted the party leaders and sought their assistance. Though the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was part of the Government, Mr. Singh wanted to consult the AIADMK, describing the Reservation Act brought by her Government in 1994 as the best, Ms. Jayalalithaa said.

Consultations continued for several days with the HRD Minister and officials of the department, she said. Acting on their request, the AIADMK prepared a draft Bill and submitted it to the Centre. However, the Centre had not adopted the proposals given by the AIADMK, following the change in Government in the State. With an eye on the Assembly elections in Uttarakhand and Punjab, the Centre "hastily" enacted a law on reservation, which contradicted the Bill prepared by her party.

More problems

Accusing the DMK Government of adopting an "irresponsible" approach to the reservation issue, she said even the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of seats in educational institutions and of appointments or posts in the Service under the State) Act, 1994 (TN Act 45 of 1994) had been facing problems now, though it was brought under the purview of the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

The Centre should explain as to why the Attorney General and Solicitor General did not appear in the case of providing 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and also the case relating to the judicial review of laws placed in the Ninth Schedule, she demanded.

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