NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday countered Congress‘s repeated attacks on the Centre over reservation by quoting a letter written by Jawaharlal Nehru to states wherein the late former PM criticised the idea of quota in government jobs.
Replying to the motion of thanks to the President’s address in Rajya Sabha, PM Modi said that Nehru officially wrote a letter to the chief ministers of states and said that he is against the idea of reservation, especially in government jobs.
“Nehru in his letter said ‘I do not like reservation in any form. Especially reservation in jobs. I am against any such step that promotes inefficiency and takes us toward mediocrity’,” PM Modi said, quoting Nehru’s letter amid chants of shame from the NDA benches.
“This is a letter written by Nehru to states. It shows that Congress has always been against reservation. Nehru ji used to say that if SC/ST/OBC get quotas in jobs, then the standard of government work will fall,” PM Modi said.
He further said: “Today, Congress is citing numbers about OBC representation … but the real reason they are doing this is because of the foundation laid by its own founders. Had Congress empowered backward castes back them, the situation would have been different today,” PM Modi said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been attacking PM Modi, claiming that there’s lack of participation of people belonging to SC/ST/OBC categories in big companies, hospitals, schools, colleges and courts.
He also promised that the opposition bloc INDIA would “throw out” the 50 per cent cap on reservation if it comes to power in the Lok Sabha polls.
Replying to the motion of thanks to the President’s address in Rajya Sabha, PM Modi said that Nehru officially wrote a letter to the chief ministers of states and said that he is against the idea of reservation, especially in government jobs.
“Nehru in his letter said ‘I do not like reservation in any form. Especially reservation in jobs. I am against any such step that promotes inefficiency and takes us toward mediocrity’,” PM Modi said, quoting Nehru’s letter amid chants of shame from the NDA benches.
“This is a letter written by Nehru to states. It shows that Congress has always been against reservation. Nehru ji used to say that if SC/ST/OBC get quotas in jobs, then the standard of government work will fall,” PM Modi said.
He further said: “Today, Congress is citing numbers about OBC representation … but the real reason they are doing this is because of the foundation laid by its own founders. Had Congress empowered backward castes back them, the situation would have been different today,” PM Modi said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been attacking PM Modi, claiming that there’s lack of participation of people belonging to SC/ST/OBC categories in big companies, hospitals, schools, colleges and courts.
He also promised that the opposition bloc INDIA would “throw out” the 50 per cent cap on reservation if it comes to power in the Lok Sabha polls.