Monday, September 4 2006 11:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: The Centre did not foresee any problem in implementation of the bill granting 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in elite educational institutes, Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh said yesterday (Sept 3, 2006).

"If the issue comes up in the Parliament, we don't anticipate any opposition from any of the allies," he told reporters after participating in a programme at IIT Madras.

Asked whether any dissension was noticed at the UPA coordination committee meeting on the issue of implementation of reservation for OBCs in IIT's and IIM's, he said, "I did not see any noticeable dissent".

On PMK founder S Ramadoss's demand for implementing reservation in one go rather than staggering it, Singh said "The Union Cabinet had taken the decision in the matter and all parties in the UPA Government had accepted it".

Later, after calling on Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Singh said, "We have introduced the bill on the basis of the decision taken at the cabinet meeting."

Asked for the Chief Minister's reaction to the bill, Singh said, "Karunanidhi is aware of what is happening. His stand on the issue remains the same."

Singh denied that the creamy layer concept was still included in the bill and explained that including it in the Hindi version of the Bill had been a mistake.

"During the half-an-hour-long meeting, he discussed with Karunanidhi the need for expanding educational sphere," he said.

"With institutes like Indian Institute of Information Technology coming up in Chennai, it becomes absolutely essential to expand technical education," he said.