NEW DELHI, APRIL 10: Around 11 am today, just before HRD Minister Arjun Singh was about to begin his first official engagement meeting students from Arunachal Pradesh in his 17, Akbar Road residence, he got a call from a senior HRD official that the Supreme Court had upheld the 27 per cent OBC quota law with a “creamy layer” rider.

Minutes later, one of the first congratulatory calls came from CPM’s Brinda Karat. And they kept coming. From DMK’s Karunanidhi to RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav to LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan and PMK’s Ramadoss — all those who had been vocal about OBC reservations “with the creamy layer” — called him to applaud.

Exactly two years ago, on April 5, 2006, Arjun Singh first touched off a raging controversy announcing his intention of bringing 27% OBC quota law in all higher educational institutions at an innocuous NCERT function. He then fought it out with the Election Commission, sections within his own party and government that said he had hijacked the agenda, and finally the Supreme Court, his first reaction today was: “Vindication comes through time, sometimes it can be measured, sometimes it cannot be.”

Calling it a “historic judgement”, he met top HRD officials and aides at around noon and gave them a clear direction to “start the quota implementation immediately”. On the creamy layer being kept out, his answer was: “We will have to sort this out, we may have to go to the Cabinet.”

It is learnt that Arjun Singh is not in favour of challenging the Supreme Court order on the exclusion of creamy layer. “The 27% reservation for OBCs, by itself, is a big gain, it should not be lost,” he is said to have told his officials.

As a first move, the IIMs were asked to put off their merit list — slated to be announced tomorrow — “till further orders”. Sources said the preparedness in IITs, IIMs and Central universities to accommodate the quotas is a poor “10 per cent on an average”, of the target for the first year. But, with UPA-appointed directors and vice-chancellors in place, the government is not expecting any resistance from them. “A meeting of the heads of these institutions might be called as well to ensure speedy implementation,” a source said.

As a senior official said, “The staggered schedule, which was prepared and endorsed by the Cabinet, will be followed unless an institution comes and asks for some relaxation.”

It may be recalled that the government, even as the hearings were on in the Supreme Court last year, had quietly asked the IITs, IIMs and Universities to prepare the groundwork for upgradation, so that no time is lost.

As of now, based on the Moily committee’s recommendations and institutions’ own commitments, IITs agreed on an average 16% additional student intake (8% OBC reservation in the first year), IIMs to 11% intake (5.5% OBC quota in first year) and Central universities had to implement 27% quota in Humanities in the first year itself. “But these commitments have to be fine-tuned,” said an official, adding that Rs 875 crore has been allocated for Central universities, Rs 1,171 crore for IITs and Rs 53 crore for IIMs for this financial year.

This is in addition to Rs 576 crore for the universities, Rs 988 crore for IITs and Rs 80 crore for IIMs, most of which remain unspent since the SC orders were pending.

That filing a review petition on the creamy layer issue isn’t an “intelligent option” was the conclusion of the top brass in the ministry, since the fate of “review” when the two-judge SC bench of Arijit Pasayat and C K Thakker was approached last year is known — the judges had stayed the order forcing the Government to approach the CJI who set up a larger bench.

A top official also reminded the HRD minister, during the hour-long meeting, that the Law ministry had first raised the red flag on the creamy layer issue when the draft law went to the Cabinet. The Indian Express had then reported that Law Minister H R Bhardwaj was candid enough to say that the law would be challenged in the Supreme Court if the creamy layer is not kept out but the pro-creamy layer ministers overruled him.

As in government jobs, the creamy layer refers to those whose annual income is above 2.5 lakh or who hold government and private jobs, Constitutional posts, who have land in their kitty. Officials, therefore, have advised the Minister to “discuss” the matter with Cabinet colleagues — where it has vocal supporters — to decide on the next step.