Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would continue as it was essential to bring a large chunk of society at par with others and sought support from all quarters in this regard.
In a dig at those who criticised the recent constitutional amendments for welfare of SCs and STs, Vajpayee said whatever good work the government did was dubbed as election-oriented. The prime minister was responding to a felicitation accorded to him by the social justice and empowerment ministry in the light of the recent constitutional amendments.
Stating that reservation in jobs, offering better opportunities to the SCs and STs was the only way of bringing them at par with the rest of the society, he said it did not appear that reservation would be done away with in the near future. Reservation is essential to bring a large chunk of the society at par with others and it should be viewed in this context and everybody should support it, He said.
These days whatever good work the government does is presented as election-oriented. But, if some good work is done even from the election point of view, then what is the harm, He asked.
Bureau Report