Friday, December 9 2005 16:00 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Claiming unanimity among political parties, Government today (Dec 09, 2005) decided to introduce a crucial Constitution Amendment bill in Parliament on December 13 to provide reservation to socially and educationally backward sections in private unaided educational institutions.

The legislation, which proposes to insert a clause in Article 15 of the Constitution, would be taken up for discussion on December 15 and efforts would be made to pass it the same day, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said.

His statement came after a meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had with leaders of all political parties in Parliament this morning.

As the bill was to amend the Constitution and had to be passed with two-third majority, the Government has appealed to all political parties to issue a whip to ensure presence of members in the House on that day.

The draft bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet at its meeting last night.

Observing that there was a broad consensus among all parties on the provision of the legislation, Dasmunsi said the bill would not be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The legislation would provide flexibility to states to enact their own laws on the matter in accordance with their requirements, he said adding as education was in the state list, the Centre would not like to impose anything on them.

The proposed law would also let states to regulate admissions and the free structure, he said.