New Delhi: Minister for human resource development Arjun Singh is these days savouring the sweet taste of the Supreme Court verdict, which last month vindicated his position on 27% reservation to all students from backward castes in graduate and postgraduate courses.
During his stewardship at the ministry, Singh has been in the limelight on a variety of education-related issues. Two years ago, students in the major metros took to the streets protesting against quota for other backward classes. India’s premier institutes of technology and management have had differences of opinion with the minister on hiking fees, while a number of foreign educators have had to return empty-handed because they haven’t passed the ministry’s muster.
Quotable quote: Education is the only equalizer, says Arjun Singh.
As for the chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Singh confirmed his appointment recently despite a variety of media stories (including those in Mint) on mismanagement as well as personal misconduct.
Meanwhile, rumours of disagreement with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have refused to go away, with Arjun Singh’s positions, such as on the nuclear deal and on OBC quotas, seen by the PMO as being too close to the Left. And when the minister recently supported the demand by senior Congress leaders to project Rahul Gandhi as prime minister, he was roundly ticked off by the party.
Not for nothing is Arjun Singh known as the wily old fox of Indian politics. He has been in public life for nearly 60 years. His health has often given him trouble. But, as he tells Mint in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview, he’s here to stay. Edited excerpts:
Two years ago, students in New Delhi and other parts of the country were out in the streets, protesting against 27% reservations for OBCs. Now, the Supreme Court has given the same verdict. How do you feel?
The Supreme Court verdict has naturally set at rest all questions. The fact is that, except for the creamy layer, the Supreme Court has not added or subtracted anything. From the very beginning, after the initial opposition, the Prime Minister asked me to see that all those getting admission now, that is minus the OBCs, should not be deprived. They should not feel that these people have come to take our place. So, we expand. And in that expansion, we take care of them as well as the OBCs. And this is exactly what was done.
So, the expansion was your idea?
No, that was the PM’s idea.
So, you were unfairly accused of being divisive by bringing in quotas?
It was patently unfair. There was no question of exclusive, only of inclusive (education). To read exclusion in it and whip up a campaign, I think, is very, very unfair. Not to me, but to society at large… The complexities of this country are so great that anybody trying to whip up differences or disagreements is not serving the cause of the country.
Are reservations restricted to undergraduates?