Two Union ministers pitch for increased quota in higher

Two Union ministers have pitched for increased reservations for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in higher judiciary, saying such people do not have adequate representation in the Supreme Court and the high courts.

Ram Vilas Paswan, Union minister and the chief of Lok Janshakti Party, an NDA ally, said it was time to launch a movement to press for their demand.

"I am speaking in the capacity of LJP chief that we should launch a movement for getting reservation in the judiciary," Paswan said here yesterday while addressing a national conference of Dalit Sena on the occasion of the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar.

He appreciated the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar for introducing reservations in lower and higher judicial services in the state.

Upendra Kushwaha, another Union minister and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party chief, said no one can even dare to think of abolishing the reservation system in the country.

Rather, the quantum of reservation should be increased, he said.

"We will demand for more reservation. We will not stop till our mission is completed...Ye dil maange more," Kushwaha, who also present at the programme, said.

The judiciary should create a system, where poor people can become judges of Supreme Court and high courts, he added.