Cong did great harm to OBCs; PM working for their welfare: Shah
‘It was Cong govt that had delayed Kakasaheb Kalelkar Commission report’
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that OBCs have suffered the “greatest harm” at the hands of the Congress over the years, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the one who has worked continuously for their development.
Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Shah said Modi was born into a poor family and became Prime Minister, and he knows the pain of the backward classes and the poor.
The Home minister also lashed out at the Opposition party, saying if any party has harmed backward classes and come in the way of their growth, it is the Congress.
Shah alleged that historically, the Congress has opposed the welfare of the backward classes and has only resorted to lip-service for such communities. The Congress only chants the name of backward classes but does not support any welfare measures for them, he claimed.
The Home minister said it was the Congress government that had delayed the report of the Kakasaheb Kalelkar Commission, which was set up to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes.
Shah said even the Mandal Commission report granting reservation to the OBCs was implemented when the Congress was voted out of power. “Then too it was the then leader of the Opposition — Rajiv Gandhi — who had opposed the move,” he said.
His sharp attack on the Congress over the OBC issue came against the backdrop of the grand old party making caste census an issue during the Assembly elections to five states, which were held last month. Through the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, the Central government wants to change the nomenclature of the term “weak and underprivileged classes (social castes)” to “other backward classes” for getting reservation benefits in the Union Territory
The law will ensure reservation for OBCs in appointment and admission in professional institutions in Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said.
