New Delhi: Seeking quota in private institutions of higher education as well, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday commemorated the anniversary of an UPA era law that came into effect on January 20, 2006, allowing 27 per cent OBC reservation in Centrally-funded colleges.
The Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications took to social media and said, “On this historic occasion, the Congress Party reiterates its commitment to social justice as embodied in Article 15 (5) and calls on the Modi Government to implement it in full.”
On the anniversary of the historic quota law, Ramesh called for measures to implement reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBC students in private higher education institutions as well, as proposed under the Article.
Article 15(5) of the Indian Constitution, allowing reservations for SC/ST/OBC in educational institutions (including private unaided ones, except minorities), came into effect on January 20, 2006, following the 93rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2005.
Ramesh wrote on X, “The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, to set up a single regulator for higher education in the country, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Dec 15, 2025 and referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee the next day.”
“Any such regulator should be mandated to oversee the implementation of Article 15(5) of the Constitution that came into effect exactly twenty years ago today,” he said, adding that Article 15(5) was inserted by Dr Manmohan Singh’s Government through the 93rd Amendment.
Ramesh hailed the Amendment and said, “It was a historic moment which allowed the introduction of 27 per cent reservation for students from the OBCs in Centrally-funded higher education institutions (HEIs), including the IITs, IIMs, Central Universities, and NITs.”
“Since then, lakhs of students from the OBC communities have availed of this reservation, bringing economic and social mobility to millions,” he said.
Article 15(5) also allows the Government to mandate reservations for students from scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities as well as for students from the OBCs in private institutions of higher education, he said.
“But this had been subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court. It was only on May 6, 2014, that the Supreme Court had, in the Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust versus Union of India case, categorically upheld the validity of Article 15(5), making it clear that reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBC students are permissible in private higher education institutions as well. However, there is currently no law passed by Parliament which enforces Article 15(5),” wrote Ramesh
The former Union Minister said, “In August 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education had presented a report that called on Parliament to pass a law mandating reservations for scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, and OBC communities in private higher educational institutions. The Committee found that their representation in private educational institutions is abysmally and unacceptably low.”
(IANS)
