Terming the Supreme Court decision on reservation for backward classes in educational institutions as unfortunate, former Prime Minister V P Singh said a clash between the judiciary and Parliament should be avoided. Instead of staying reservation for backward caste students during admission, Singh said, the present system should be continued and an early census carried out to determine the status of backward castes in the country. He said the comment that the country should not be divided for the sake of vote bank would further widen rifts in society.

IIM, IIT to abide by Centre’s decision

WHILE the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are saying they will go by the Government’s directive on providing 27 per cent reservation for other backward classes (OBCs), sources in these institutes felt that with the next hearing of the case scheduled for August, the admission procedure for the coming year would be completed without the OBC quota.

The IIMs will complete the admission process for the coming academic year by April 12, IIM-Ahmedabad Director Bakul Dholakia said today. IIM-A had decided to increase the seats phasewise in a span of three years to meet the 27 per cent quota requirement.