Clarifying the stand of his party on reservation, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Gurudas Kamat on Thursday said that Congress is in favour of giving 15 to 20 per cent reservation quota to Economically Backward Class (EBC) coming from non-reservation category without diluting 49 per cent reservation given to SC, ST and OBCs.
While addressing a Press conference at Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) headquarters in Ahmedabad, the Congress general secretary said that Congress always works for the poor and believes that they should be protected by the Government.
“EBCs should get all the benefits given to OBCs in Government jobs as well as education. If the Modi Government would not declare package for EBCs, the Congress party will launch agitation,” said Kamat, who is also Gujarat in-charge for his party.
“I and other Congress leaders had consultation with all the office-bearers of district Congress units across the State during the past three days. Similar exercises were done in other States too. We found that there was widespread discontent among the poor belonging to non-reserved categories which was evident from the demand for reservation being raised in different parts of the country,” he said, obviously in context of ongoing pro-quota agitation by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS).
Replying a question regarding the Supreme Court ruling that reservation should not exceed the limit of 49 per cent, the senior Congress leader said that it was up to the government to convince the Supreme Court about the need to provide reservation beyond the present 49 per cent given.
Kamat claimed that AICC president Sonia Gandhi had raised the demand for EBC reservation in the run-up to the last lok Sabha elections. If the Congress led government would have come to power, EBCs might have benefited that too without disturbing current reservation of 49 per cent given to SC, ST and OBCs, he further claimed.