Congress Didn't Give Reservation To OBCs For 40 Years: Union Minister

The Congress did not give reservation to the OBCs for almost 40 years and it was finally granted by a government supported by the BJP, Union minister Bhupender Yadav said in Parliament on Tuesday.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, he said the Kaka Kalelkar Commission had suggested reservation for the OBCs in the 1950s, but the Congress did not implement it for almost four decades.

Not only this, the Congress also did not implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission for six years, which was eventually done by a government supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mr Yadav said.

It was the Narendra Modi government that gave constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, which the Congress did not do during the 10 years of the UPA rule, he added.

Despite a memorandum given by the OBC MPs of all political parties to the UPA government demanding constitutional status for the OBC commission, the Congress did nothing on this front, the minister said.

Mr Yadav, who chaired the select committee on the bill to give constitutional status to the OBC Commission, said it was the Modi government that implemented the OBC quota in Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.

He said to ensure social and economic justice in the country, the Modi government also gave 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker sections of the society.