Faced with a Supreme Court order staying 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in higher education, the UPA government is likely to call an all-party meeting on April 5 to evolve a consensus for revoking the order.

Top government sources said the meeting will give a stamp of approval to the legal recourse the government will adopt and the HRD ministry will be authorised to approach the apex court. “The Parliament had passed the Bill almost unanimously, which later became a law. Therefore, it is logical to get approval from all parties,” sources told The Indian Express.

The government — following a core-group meeting on Friday — had issued a statement that there will be “no compromise” on the issue of OBC reservation and the government was committed to affirmative action.

The HRD Ministry, meanwhile, consulted with legal experts to find out possible solutions to the present situation. “The government is anxious to get the stay vacated so that another year is not lost for students belonging to Other Backward Classes,” a source said.

Meanwhile, the government is in a tight spot, especially because the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have already given a deadline of sorts to the ministry that they will finalise the “merit list” — without OBC reservations — by April 12 if the stay order was not vacated.

The IIMs have selected 500-odd OBC candidates, who have cleared CAT and appeared for the interviews. These students stand to lose if the government cannot get the stay vacated by April 12.

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