Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri on Friday said BJP State president L. Murugan was shedding crocodile tears about social justice in Tamil Nadu and his attempts to use the controversy over Kandha Sashti Kavasam issue to build the BJP in the State were amusing.
In a statement, Mr. Alagiri said, “It is amusing that the BJP, which has its background from the RSS that has been opposed to social justice, is now talking about social justice in the State. There are lots of instances to prove that the BJP is against social justice and disrupted reservation in the country. In the last six years of Modi rule, there is proof of how the backward classes, OBCs have been affected with regard to getting jobs.”
Following the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, the OBCs got a lot of benefits. In 2004, the number of BCs and OBCs who were in Central government jobs was 16.6%. In 2014, this had increased to 28.5%, he said. Mr. Alagiri claimed this reservation was now under threat under BJP rule with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing the merger and privatisation of public sector undertakings.
“At least four PSUs are going to be merged or privatised. Already, due to various schemes of the government, the issue of reservation has become weak. If the PSUs are privatised or merged, there is no need to even mention what fate reservation will meet,” he said.
Detailing various figures on jobs, Mr. Alagiri said the BCs and OBCs had lost out on opportunities in the last six years due to government policy. “The BJP government believes that it is its daily duty to snatch the benefits and welfare of those who belong to the BC, OBC and SC/ST communities. Taking away their rights is against social justice,” he said.
Further, he said the Medical Council of India had submitted before the Madras High Court that no changes could be made to the reservation quota in medical admissions. The BJP-led Central government had buried the reservation for backward classes, he said, adding, “If BJP acts against social justice in Tamil Nadu, it will end up as a big failure.”
