Govt Distracting Youth with Ill-Thought EWS Quota: Congress’ NSUI

“The solution for the crisis in education and jobs is to expand the public sector,” Congress-backed NSUI said.

The Union Cabinet’s move provides reservation benefit likely to be availed by those with annual income below Rs 8 lakh and who have up to five acres of land.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Slamming the government’s move approving 10 percent reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in government jobs, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) said the decision is “another jumla”.

In a statement released on Tuesday, 8 January, the Congress-backed student organistion said it will not allow the Modi-led government’s “desperate attempt to distract Indian youth by implementing an ill-thought and ill-advised 10 percent reservation for EWS with annual income of Rs 8 lakh per annum”.

“The NSUI strongly believes that it is the role of the government to ensure that all young people have access to quality and affordable education, and that young people are mainstreamed economically (jobs) and politically,” NSUI’s statement read.

The Union Cabinet’s move provides reservation benefit likely to be availed by those with annual income below Rs 8 lakh and who have up to five acres of land.

“According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), 1.27 crore jobs were destroyed a month after PM Modi’s draconian demonetisation move. In addition to destroying jobs, Modi-led central government and various BJP governments in the states have refused to fill government vacancies across the country.”

Statement by NSUI

The students’ union has said the EWS category of Rs 8 lakhs per annum is another “Modi jumla” as 93 percent of homes have annual household income below Rs 2.5 lakh.

“If economic deprivation reason for under representation, is the Modi government also providing fee-waiver for these students?” NSUI asked in its statement.

Pointing what they consider “a fundamental problem” in reserving jobs and education for 10 percent of the upper class, the NSUI said, “Unless we expand the size of education sector and absolute number of jobs generated, this method of carving out small portions of reservations from an already shrinking pie will only increase conflict among various citizen and social groups.”

“Encouraging such conflict indeed seems to be the aim of PM Modi as it is necessary to distract the public from holding him and his government’s performance to account but the NSUI will not let this pass,” said the statement.

Offering a solution to the government, the NSUI said, “The solution for the crisis in education and jobs is to expand the public sector and create more employment through better management of the economy – instead of making citizen groups compete with each other for inadequate seats. Modi’s government has failed miserably on this front”.