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Congress hails pact, but unsure of implementation

JAIPUR: The Congress party on Thursday reacted cautiously to the agreement between the Rajasthan Government and the Gujjar community on the demand for Scheduled Tribe status from the latter. The party leadership, which welcomed the settlement as it heralded peace, felt that the decisions might not withstand the rigours of law.

“The people of Rajasthan have taken a sigh of relief,” Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot said in his immediate reaction to the agreement. “Better late than never, but the same result could have been achieved much before through talks,” he said pointing out that the agitation so far had claimed 65 lives.

“It is not yet clear how the Rajasthan Government would implement its decisions in the context of an upper ceiling of 50 per cent in reservations stipulated by the Supreme Court,” Mr. Gehlot observed.

He said that for the first time in 1991, the then Congress Government at the Centre had announced a 10 per cent reservation for the poor among the forward castes. During his tenure as Chief Minister his Cabinet had sent a proposal on May 21, 2003, to the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government seeking a Constitutional amendment to provide 14 per cent reservation for the poor among such castes, he noted.

“The new quota announcements would only lead to further unrest,” predicted Congress spokesperson, Mohan Prakash. “True that the crisis has been defused for the time being, but it would reappear,” he warned.

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