Raise quota limit to 75 per cent, urges Ramdas Athawale

Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday pitched for raising the reservation level to 75 per cent, with an additional 25 per cent quota in government jobs and colleges to economically backwards in all castes.

“To end this controversy (about reservation) forever, I am going to talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and we will also talk to all political parties and see if there can be a Constitution amendment,” the minister of state for social justice said on the sidelines of a meeting of National Council of Senior Citizens here.

Noting that reservation can never be abolished, even if some people are opposed to it, he said he has always demanded reservation for economically backward classes from all castes — whether they are jats in Haryana, patels in Gujarat, marathas in Maharashtra or the brahmins.

For this there should be an additional 25 per cent above the present 49.5 per cent mandated in the Constitution for economically-backward classes in all castes, the minister said.