Youth for Equality, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Saturday, March 31, 2007

CNN-IBN Video: JNU boycotts Arjun Singh's visit





http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/37435/arjun-an-unwelcome-guest-at-jnu.html

Arjun Singh booed, shown black flags in JNU

Source: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/46218.html

Arjun Singh booed, shown black flags in JNU
Posted on : Sat, 31 Mar 2007 10:32:01 GMT Author : Indo Asian News Service

New Delhi, March 31 Dozens of students booed and shouted slogans against Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh Saturday at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for supporting quotas for backward classes in elite educational institutions.

Singh had been invited as the chief guest by the social science department of JNU that was celebrating 150 years of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, popularly known as India's first war of independence.

As soon as the minister went to the podium to deliver his address, nearly 70 students under the Youth for Equality (YFE) banner shouted slogans like 'Arjun Singh murdabad' and waved black flags at him.

'We showed him an OBC certificate with his photograph over it. We don't want a minister who divides India on the basis of caste,' said Amit Kumar, a PhD student and coordinator of YFE at JNU.

The chaos lasted for over 30 minutes and interrupted Singh for nearly 20 minutes before he managed to complete his speech.

'Though JNU believes in freedom of speech, Arjun Singh, a votary of inequality, should not come to our university. We interrupted his speech for about 20 minutes and continued with our protest after that as well,' Kumar told IANS.

Holding placards and banners with messages like 'Reservation murdabad', 'Casteism, down, down!' the students demanded that the minister should resign in the wake of Supreme Court's temporary stay on 27 percent quota in higher educational institutions for other backward classes (OBCs).

The Supreme Court, disposing of petitions challenging the reservation law, stayed its implementation till August, citing lack of data on the OBC population.

The HRD ministry Friday said there would be no compromise in its commitment to securing social justice for weaker sections and it would go ahead with the implementation of reservation for backward classes in higher educational institutions.

However, the Left-backed JNU students union denounced the development.

'It's a shameful development. We denounce the sloganeering against the HRD minister. We believe reservation for OBC students is a social need and the government is doing right by ensuring it,' said Dhananjay Tripaty, president of the students union.

'We hope the final verdict of the court will go in favour of reservation,' he added.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

SC says Govt has no reliable data, OBC quota stayed

Source: http://www.ibnlive.com/news/sc-says-quota-is-vote-bank-politics-stays-order/37225-3.html

CNN-IBN

New Delhi: In what could be big a blow to the Government's pro-reservation stance, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in elite educational institutions like IIMs and IITs.

The Court ruled that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation.

The ruling could once again set the stage for another clash between legislature and judiciary, as this is being seen as a setback to the Government.

The Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and L S Panta ruled on the batch of petitions filed by various organisations and individuals challenging the decision as being ultra vires (unconstitutional).

Various organisations had challenged the Centre's decision to implement the quota, claiming that there was no relevant data on the number of OBCs in the country.

The Bench said, "We are of the view that the impugned notification and enforcing the reservation for OBCs in the educational institutions must be put on hold as the Government has failed to provide any authentic or reliable data to justify its policy of reservation.”
SC held that Section 6 of the Constitution was not applicable since no data on who constitutes OBCs in India has been collected in the last 76 years.

"The Centre has to determine who are the socially and economically backward people of India, before the Central Educational Institutions Act can be given effect," the Bench stated.
However, the Bench clarified that the benefit of reservation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes could not be withheld. It said that the Centre could go ahead with the OBC identification process to determine the backward classes.

This means that if the Government can provide the court with authentic data on who constitute the OBCs in India, then reservation may be implemented in favour of people who genuinely need it.

"Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness," the Bench observed.

While saying this, however, the Apex Court reprimanded the Centre, saying that the Centre should stay away from dividing the society on caste basis and should behave in a more responsible way.

It added the Government's decision to implement the quota system was full of flaws.
Lawyer for United Student’s Forum, M L Lahoty told CNN-IBN, “SC has stayed the order on the Act saying to the Centre, ‘Don’t divide the country only because of your vote bank’ and that 'the consequences of this quota would be very bad'."

The Centre had earlier justified the decision to implement reservation saying that Parliament had power to enact laws and that if the issue of giving OBCs reservation is not addressed, then there could be law and order problems in the country.

It had also maintained that general category students would not be affected by the quota, as the number of general seats has been increased proportionately.

Brushing this aside, the Bench said that the OBC quota was just vote bank politics and said it was forced to take the decision against the Government as the Government did not implement the SC's last two orders.

It said that a final decision would be taken only after proper documents related to OBCs were submitted.

The Government had enacted the Central Educational Institutions Act last year which provided for the reservations in institutes of higher education.

The hearing on the matter has been adjourned till the August 3, 2007.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Youth For Equality vie for ‘empowerment’

Source: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=228347

Youth For Equality vie for ‘empowerment’

Pallavi Singh

New Delhi, March 25: In 2006, a bunch of restless medical students from five medical colleges in the Capital floated Youth For Equality (YFE), a movement against Central Government's proposal to implement 27 per cent quota for OBCs. Their tagline: 'Non-Violent. Non-Political. United'.

A year later, they have charted a new course for themselves: Delhi municipal elections. The YFE is seeking political space in country's Capital by extending support to three Independent candidates in the upcoming polls.

The purpose, as its members point out, is simple: "Political empowerment to get things done the right way." Behind them is the experience of JNU Student Union polls last year and the Mumbai municipal polls early this year. "At JNU, we put up a close fight and won most seats in Science schools," says Lokesh Paliwal, YFE activist from a city medical college.

The Mumbai experience wasn't very heartening though. Out of two candidates fielded, one won but the other lost. In Delhi, they remain confident of victories despite their hats in a political ring dominated by the Congress and the BJP. Their hope: the young voters.

YFE's website lists more than 18,000 members and links to 13 chapters the world over. And, while the group is low on finance, the strong network of volunteers may swing a lot in its favour.
This jeans-clad group of students and professionals hopes to change the general perception that there is disdain among youth for electoral processes, be it contesting polls or voting. But beyond the much-spoken goal of changing perceptions lies a plan to keep the movement going.

As member of YFE-JNU unit Manoranjan Mishra points out, "issue-based agitations alone did not yield desired results. Several protest marches and hunger strikes in 2006 did lead to YFE's growth from a few to thousands of volunteers nationwide, but negotiations with the government on quota issue didn't yield much. That is when we realised we must contest elections and connect with the masses," says Mishra.

Out of the three YFE-supported hopefuls in MCD polls, two are in their early 20s. Says Pradeep Jha, a post-graduate from DU and a UPSC aspirant, who is contesting from GTB Nagar in Kingsway camp: "Participating in direct democracy to bring about change is much more lucrative than becoming part of a service where you are cut off from the masses."

On campaign trail, Jha goes door-to-door seeking votes and spending time with senior citizens in parks while volunteers market posters and t-shirts to raise funds. Sanjay Kumar, a PhD student from AIIMS who is contesting from Kasturba Nagar, has even put his medical expertise to optimum use by organising health camps.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

SC reserves verdict on quota stay plea

Source: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=India&month=March2007&file=World_News2007030814637.xml

New Delhi • The Supreme Court yesterday reserved its verdict on a plea for an interim stay during the academic session 2007-08 on the latest law reserving 27.5 per cent seats for backward class students in higher educational institutions.

A bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and L S Panta reserved the verdict after hearing arguments for 150 minutes for and against the plea for interim stay on the law during the upcoming academic session.

While reserving the judgement, the bench also directed counsels for various students' bodies, including the Youth for Equality, seeking an interim stay on the law, to file their remaining arguments in written form by March 12.

Pleading for an interim stay on the Central Educational Institutions (Reservations in Admission) Act, 2006, counsels for student bodies Fail S Nariman and P P Rao contended that the government has enacted the law merely to garner political mileage.

Nariman said that, "the government has absolutely no identifiable caste data" to justify its step to provide 27.5 per cent reservation in educational institutions to SEBC or Other Backward Classes (OBC) students.

He pointed out to the bench that the government has sought to provide 27.5 per cent reservations on the basis of the last caste-based census conducted in 1931, which has no relevance in 2007.

He contended that in the absence of any relevant caste-based data, no reservation could be provided, as it would run the risk of missing the targeted population.

On a suggestion by the bench if the government should be allowed to implement the law after excluding the creamy layer among the OBCs, Nariman said that, "that modality too would be as vague as the law itself" in the absence of any valid caste figures to identify the targeted beneficiaries.

Nariman and Rao challenged the Mandal Commission's finding, which put the percentage population of other backward classes in India at 52, saying that these figures are not reliable.

Supporting the law for reservation to backward category students, Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramniam said, "Economic and educational backwardness has been caused and is perpetuated by social backwardness, which is a reality in Indian society divided on caste basis."

To justify the reservation for backward students in educational institutions, he quoted extensively from the 1992 ruling in Indira Sawhney versus government of India case on implementation of Mandal Commission recommendation, which provided for 27.5 per cent reservation to OBC candidates in government jobs.