YFE Press Release

YOUTH FOR EQUALITY,

11 A.M,

24 NOVEMBER 2006

NEW DELHI, INDIA

The present government's obstinacy to bring the reservation bill during the current session of the parliament is a hastily taken and avoidable decision. A careful examination of the 93^rd constitutional amendment and the subsequent reservation policy of the UPA government may offer contradictory interpretation. Our precise finding is that the 93^rd Constitutional amendment is actually an enabling amendment; it is not a compulsory requirement. The language of the amendment does not talk about reservations, the language talks about any provision by law for advancement of socially and educationally backward classes. The proposed extended reservation policy is targeting the best of the institutions of India in various fields ranging from Nuclear Research, Space Research, Medicine, Engineering, Fashion Technology, and Theatre to Studies of Social Sciences. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru established or visualized most of these institutions to convert India into a modern country taking it from the dogma of obscurantism, caste, creed and religion and to prepare India better to face the challenges of the coming centuries. He discounted any caste based entry to these institutions. Youth For Equality repose its full confidence in Pt. Nehru's vision of Modern India.

Reservations are politically popular but will barely touch the fringe of the problem. They may benefit a lakh or two from the creamy layer of backward castes. They will not benefit the millions of talented people left behind in the streets and fields of India. The most troubling truth about the whole reservation issue on the part of the government is the absence of a precise headcount on OBC population in whose interest the government is claiming to formulate the present reservation policy. Mandal puts it at 52 per cent, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) at 32 per cent and the National Family and Health Survey at 29.8 per cent. Under such ambiguity it is humanely impossible to extend the benefit of the policy to the targeted populace. On the other hand Youth For Equality strongly believe that backwardness or poverty never confined to any caste or castes. So its eradication policy should not be confined to any particular caste or castes.

Since the announcement of the policy in the early April 2006, we have been raising our voice along with our friends from scientific community at different level in different volume. The report of the Parliament Standing Committee and the present version of the bill to be tabled in the parliament created serious deadlock in between the judiciary and the legislative. The legislature hell-bent to impose reservation is against the spirit of the constitution, while dodging the creamy layer issue and the modality adopted for its implementation.

To oppose this misrule of the present government the Youth For Equality is organizing countrywide agitation in the form of observing black day on 24^th of November 2006 and protest rally on 26^th of November across the country including Delhi. Youth for Equality is closely observing the proceeding at the Supreme Court and its violation by the Parliament. The YFE will be intensifying its agitation in the coming days in case government tries to overlook our concern.

Our appeal to the Monmohan Singh Government is to take an undisputable and legitimate view on the crucial matter of reservation, taking past experience and changing pattern of societal development into account and ensure the early restoration of normalcy in the country.

The ongoing agitation will be continued till our demands are met.

Miss. Shweta Gaur, Spokesperson, Youth for Equality

Miss. Sonika Tyagi, YFE Representative, New Delhi

"UNITED WE CAN WIN"

YOUTH FOR EQUALITY

JOIN THE

"UNITED WE CAN WIN" RALLY

FROM : India Gate

To : Rashtrapati Bhawan

ON 26^TH OF NOVEMBER 2006(SUNDAY)

TIME 11.A.M.

BUS WILL BE LEAVING FROM POORVANCHAL AT 10 AM & 10.15 at Ganga Stop

Observe 24^th November (Friday) as BLACK DAY to show dissent to

1. Government's obstinacy to overrule Supreme Court on CREAMY LAYER.

2. Dividing the society on the basis of CASTE and RELIGION.

(Stand against the misrule with a black batch/ribbon)

YFE pulls the rug from under the political establishments in JNU

YOUTH FOR EQUALITY

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY CHAPTER

NEW DELHI

“Politics is for the moment, but an equation is for eternity” said Albert Einstein, Most Admired Person of the 20^th Century, while declining the offer for the post of 1^st President of Israel after its independence in the year 1948.

It’s a rare privilege on the part of the managers of Youth For Equality to give the customary thanks to all its supporters, who have affirmed their faith and stood resolutely with the cause of the Youth For Equality. Thanking the supporters is not the exact expression of our feeling as with the stroke of their vote they have shown the resilience of the power of youth. The Youth For Equality is honored and overwhelmed with the massive support of the JNU student. We place our heartfelt complements to the entire JNU student Community for being sided with the Youth For Equality. We will try our best to meet the aspirations schemed by the youthful minds and voters of the university. The ideas of left or right ideology have seriously been questioned by the thinking brain of this university students as the result of the just concluded election made known. Now the responsibility of the Youth For Equality has been increased and we will try our best to shoulder the responsibility properly.

It is time to follow the dictum of our leader Sonika Tyagi who said, “although the YFE formed with the agenda of opposing the government’s illogical 27% caste-based reservation policy, we have reformed ourselves in a way that we offered the perfect platform to the common students of the university to raise their genuine voice against the puppet student bodies. Our fight is for good governance, better student facilities, scholarships and transparency in the system.”

Doomsayers worked overtime to confuse the student community with their flawed astrological calculation about the fate of Youth For Equality. But the election result has offered them the best reason to stop believing in astrology or their own exaggerated capability either. The votes pulled by our Central Panel in the JNUSU Elections 2006 are as follow:

Organization	President	Vice President	General Secretary	Joint Secretary
YFE	810	736	739	722
SFI-AISF (Combine)	909	731	829	800
AISA	836	1076	942	624
ABVP	432	421	386	411
NSUI	112	189	221	404
BSF	132	127	141	135

The Youth For Equality has won five councilors one each in the Centre for Biotechnology (Anuj Kumar Sharma) and SIT (Mohammad Rehan) and three in the School of Life Sciences (Hemant, Amit Ranjan and Krishna). The agenda raised in our election manifesto will be covered to the possible extent over the year as the student community reposed faith in our capability. The glory of the throne is limited as we believe in doing and not in undoing. In the coming days we will best assess the need, interest and ability of the students and fix our priority of works. It is our conviction that with our zeal to make change and lead the real student voice in the campus we will perform better in the coming years.

Another welcome development in the election is the refusal of students’ faith in organizations like ABVP, which is shrinking over the years to the size of a pigmy. It is not long before it may recede into history! Finally, we congratulate the student community for making the election a peaceful event. We pledge to extend our support for the cause of student development and for the academic excellence of JNU.

Sd/ Sd/

Prakash Chandra Dash, Shweta Gaur

Chief Campaign Coordinator YFE Representative