Reservation issue generates heat in Lok Sabha

The issue of reservation again generated heat in the Lok Sabha today with government coming under attack from several parties for not bringing a constitutional amendment to annul a Supreme Court order against reservation for faculty in superspeciality section in AIIMS.

Seeking to assuage their feelings, Law Minister Kapil Sibal said reservation in the faculty in superspeciality section of AIIMS will continue, a view later echoed by Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy.

Earlier, responding to members' demand on constitutional amendment, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said if the House agrees then the session can be extended for the passage of the legislation.

Raising the issue, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav targeted Congress as well as BJP, saying the two parties have not supported the demand for reservation for SCs and STs.

"We have been humiliated on several occasions. It is pain to stand up and raise the same issue again and again in the House...We are more in number than you. You did the same thing on the issue of caste census. But we fail to speak up due to limitations imposed due to party affiliations," Yadav said.

The uproar over the issue led to an hour-long adjournment of the House. When it reassembled Gopinath Munde (BJP) denied Yadav's charge that his party was not supportive of the reservations and as also quota for the backwards.

Panna Lal Punia (Cong) sought a reply from the government on AIIMS faculty issue and the status of reservation in promotion bill passed by the Rajya Sabha which has been pending for long in the lower house.

Explaining the government's stance, Sibal said reservation would remain.

The Minister said a review petition was filed in Supreme Court following which a constitutional bench looked into the matter.