UGC chief Thorat says quota won’t affect academic standards

In the latest issue of Economic and Political Weekly, Prof Thorat has written, ‘‘In case of education, providing admission to persons with lesser grades does not carry the potential of affecting educational standards. It only provides low caste groups the prospect of accessing education without any significant relaxation in passing grades or marks.’’

‘‘But despite this, other writings on these themes have overplayed the issue of merit. Much of it has come without adequate empirical evidence,’’ says Thorat, who was the director of Delhi-based Indian Institute of Dalit Studies before being appointed as the UGC chairman in February this year. His views on the reservation issue does embolden HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s agenda of implementing OBC quotas in the premier academic institutions.

Thorat, also a key member of the Oversight Committee, suggests, ‘‘There is a need to set up an Equal Opportunity Commission/Office and bring under its purview all reservation policies related to women, the SCs, the STs, the OBCs, religious minorities, and the physically challenged under one umbrella organisation.’’

Citing international experiences — policies adopted by other countries like Malaysia and South Africa — Thorat asks for legal provisions against discrimination in the form of ‘‘anti-discrimination laws’’.

Thorat is the second key member of the Oversight Committee, headed by Veerappa Moily, to air his views in public on the issue. Planning Commission member Prof B Mungekar had also written for a Sahmat (Left outfit) publication, advocating quotas for OBCs, in an article titled In defence of quotas: Stigmatizing majority is morally indefensible.