The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “firmly” supports the existing Constitutional arrangement for reservations, Union Minister Kalraj Mishra said on Friday as he underscored the need for a debate on agitations by various castes for quotas, insisting these should be taken “seriously”.
“The BJP firmly supports the Constitutional reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes and extremely backward classes. We believe that reservation is important for the social, educational and economic development of these groups,” he said.
Mishra, however, noted that following a spate of agitations by various caste groups for quotas in government jobs and admission to educational institutions, there should be a nation-wide debate to address the issue.
“The demand for reservation is rising in many states and agitations are being held. This should be taken seriously and a debate should be held on the issue to reach a solution,” said Mishra, Union Minister from Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.