Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The UPA government is planning to take a major step before the 2014 General Elections. According to a leading daily, the government has a plan to set up five universities with as much as 50 percent reservation for the minorities.
The daily has quoted Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan as saying that socio-economic backwardness would be the key determinant for the reservation. He further clarified that the minorities would not comprise just religious minorities, but also those mentioned in Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution.
The five states that are being considered for the setting up of these universities are Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Bengal and Maharashtra.
According to reports, in Uttar Pradesh, the Centre is considering to set up a university in Rae Bareli, the constituency of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Another university is being planned in Srirangapatna in Karnataka, which has elected a Congress government.
The Centre also plans to set up such universities in Bihar, West Bengal and Nagpur in Maharashtra.
The HRD minister, meanwhile, dismissed queries on whether the decision to set up the Universities was a political one as the Lok Sabha elections were approaching.
"I came eight months back as a minister. If I take any initiative it will be called political. So what can I do? Should I sit down because election is coming, I should not work," he said.
Khan said that the ministry had been established to take affirmative action for all religious minorities who are likely to suffer discrimination.
"The Sachar Committee has said that the Muslims suffer from lot of educational backwardness and there backwardness has gone below the SC/ST section of the society.... So the ministry has taken a decision to establish universities and also promote educational institutions," he said.
Earlier, Khan, participating in a consultation on including Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians as Scheduled Castes, said that he personally favoured the idea.
"The demand looks legitimate. It is not a new demand. We have to look into it constitutionally. Whatever may be the other aspects, ultimately the Constitution prevails," Khan told reporters.
With PTI Inputs
