Ram Madhav allays fears on 10 per cent quota, Citizenship Bill

The Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to the welfare of all, and there is nothing to worry about the Citizenship Bill or 10 per cent quota for the poor among the general category, said BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday.

Talking to ANI, Madhav slammed the opposition for criticising Prime Minister Modi led government at the Centre for giving 10 per cent quota to the economically backward among the general category people in government jobs and academic institutions.

"This quota has been a long pending demand for almost 30 years now. When we took the step to meet the demand, the oppositions are criticisng us," the BJP General Secretary added. "The opposition parties are doing this because we are committed to the welfare of the people of the country," he said.

The 10 per cent reservation will be in addition to the existing 50 per cent reservation for the SCs, STs and the OBCs, taking the total quota to 60 per cent. The Lok Sabha passed the quota Bill on Tuesday night, while the Upper House is scheduled to take up the Bill for consideration and passing on Wednesday.

Talking about the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the BJP General Secretary said: "The Bill is not any state or region specific. It is for the entire country."

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Madhav said that the BJP government has decided to give ST status to six communities in Assam. "This has been a long-standing of successive Assam government right from 1980. Our government has taken this decision of extending the ST status to these communities."

Madhav said that in the last so many decades India has seen the phenomena of minorities from neighbourhood, especially from Pakistan and Afghanistan, coming into the country as they have nowhere else to go.

"They seek refuge in India. It is India's duty to extend citizenship facility to them but it is not for any one region. It is coming with a number of conditions so that no single state will be unnecessarily burdened or unnecessarily subjected to demographic problem," he added.

Madhav reiterated that the Citizenship Amendment Bill extends to those who came between 1971 and 2015. The minorities from Bangladesh will have a right to claim citizenship.

"Not all Bengalis living in Assam are outsiders, and not all of them are from Bangladesh. In any case, until 1971 those who had come into Assam from Bangladesh have been included in the NRC," Madhav said. 

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