End quota on caste lines, says Cong veteran Dwivedi
5 Feb 2014 1:07 AM GMT
Senior Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi on Tuesday called for a ‘reservation’ on the basis of economic condition of people and not on the basis of caste lines. He urged the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to introduce quota for financially weaker sections bringing all communities under its ambit.
While elaborating more in to his vision, he said, ‘Reservation on caste lines should have come to an end. Why it did not happen so far was because vested interests got into the process. Does the real needy person even among the Dalits and backward castes get the benefits of reservation? Those in the upper crust of these communities only avail the benefits. There is a difference between social justice and casteism.’ Dwivedi, while justifying his vision for ending caste-based reservations, said the situation has changed from the past and now no person has the moral courage to publicly endorse casteism. I came in politics through the youth movement in 1960s, whose main plank was to break the barriers of caste.’
Asked whether reservation, which was meant to be temporary when it was brought, should continue like it does now, Dwivedi said it is a ‘difficult and sensitive question.’
Commenting on Dwivedi’s vision on reservation, BJP Spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that his party is always in favour of an ‘additional reservation’ on the basis of economic condition of the people. ‘We want social justice and justice for the poor people.’
CPI (M) leaders Brinda Karat and Nilotpal Basu refused to comment, while Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechuri couldn’t be reached.
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