Jaipur: In a bid to counter Rajasthan government’s proposal for 14 per cent reservation to the economically weaker among upper castes ahead of Assembly elections in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on May 25 proposed immediate setting up of a Commission to formulate a procedure for the same.

At a meeting of BJP's central office-bearers, party leaders asked the Vajpayee government to immediately constitute a National Commission for economically backward classes with proper terms of reference without diluting the protection to socially backward classes, party general secretary Pramod Mahajan told reporters.

Mahajan said the party would urge Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to set up the Commission within a week.

He said reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward castes should not only continue but also be implemented in letter and spirit.

The BJP was of the opinion that certain sections of society, which were not covered under existing reserved categories, were economically so poor that they needed a special treatment, Mahajan said adding these sections should be called "economically backward classes (EBC's)".

The BJP, therefore, wanted that without diluting the reservation quota of existing castes, a quota should also be provided for EBCs, Mahajan added.

PTI