He is widely remembered for introducing 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions including IITs, NITs, IIMs and AIIMS, with the 93rd Constitutional Amendment and Central Educational Institutions(CEIs) (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006.[1]
Early life
Arjun Singh was the son of Shiv Bahadur Singh, a jagirdar and the 26th Rao of Churhat thikana, and an INC politician.
Career
Arjun Singh assumes the charge of Union Minister for Human Resource Development in New Delhi on 24 May 2004
In 1967, he lost the election from Churhat due to a fallout with the then chief minister Dwarka Prasad Mishra. However, he won a bypoll in the same year from Umaria. He was elected from Sidhi in 1972 and became a minister in the INC government of Prakash Chandra Sethi.[2]
He led the INC to victory in 1985, yet again winning from Churhat, but was forced to resign as Chief Minister after just one day due to differences with Sriniwas Tiwari. Motilal Vora succeeded him as Chief Minister.[2]
In 1991, he won from Satna. He resigned his assembly seat and harboured ambitions of becoming Prime Minister after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.[2]
Arjun Singh, promised to implement 27% reservation for OBCs in institutes of higher education (twenty central universities, the IITs, NITs, IIMs and AIIMS) after the State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal, in accordance with the 93rd Constitutional Amendment which was passed unanimously by both Houses of Parliament.[3] This amendment enabled provision of reservation (27%) for Other Backward Class(OBCs) in government as well as private educational institutions.
This decision of government lead to the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests. On 10 April 2008, the Supreme Court upheld the law for the provision of 27% quota for candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes in IITs, NITs, IIMs, AIIMS and other premier educational institutions. But it directed the government to exclude the "creamy layer", families whose annual salary in more than ₹4,50,000, among the OBCs while implementing the law. However, the "creamy layer" exclusion would not be applied to the SC/STs.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Controversies
Bhopal Incident
Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh when the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide factory occurred. It is widely alleged that on the fateful night between 2 and 3 December 1984, when the gas leak occurred, Arjun Singh fled to his Kerwa Dam Palace (outside Bhopal) to save himself from deadly effects of leaked gas and was not available to manage the crisis or lead the administration.[11]
Subsequently, the Arjun Singh government's mishandling was criticised by the court in the verdict on the Bhopal disaster as pronounced by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal on 7 June 2010. The media raised serious questions about his role in the release of Warren Anderson.[12]
In particular, the pilot of the aircraft in which Warren Anderson flew out of India after the gas leak, has recorded that the final sanction to permit the flight came from Arjun Singh's office.[13]
Churhat Lottery case and Kerwa Dam palace
While Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Singh was involved in the scandal known as the Churhat Lottery case. The Churhat Children Welfare Society was floated in 1982 by relatives of Singh, and permitted to raise funds via lottery, and also given tax relief as a charity.[14] However, there were widespread allegations[15] that substantial sums of money were siphoned off from donations and used to construct the lavish Kerwa Dam Palace near Bhopal. The donations to the society included a Rs 150,000 donation from Union Carbide,[13] whose chief Warren Anderson was permitted to leave the country after the gas leak, allegedly by Arjun Singh's office.
At a public litigation hearing, the Madhya Pradesh High Court observed that "Arjun Singh owed an explanation to the nation about the costs and sources of construction of the palatial mansion in Bhopal".[16] While Singh had claimed the value of the palace was Rs 1.8 million, the IT Department estimated the cost at above Rs one crore.[17]
However, a one-judge commission investigating the scandal gave a clean chit to Arjun Singh.[18] The case was re-opened however, after the Jain Hawala case,[16] and Singh was asked to submit fresh re-estimates of the palace cost.
In court, the case was argued by Kapil Sibal and the order for re-examination was squashed on the grounds that it had been issued in a haste and "had not applied his mind".[16]
Reservation for Other Backward Class(OBCs) in educational institutions
The 93rd Amendment Act of 2005 to the Indian Constitution added clause (5) in Article 15 which enables the government to make any special provision for the development of any socially and educationally backward classes of people, or scheduled castes or scheduled tribes, with regard to their enrolment in educational institutions, which would include private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the government, but apart from minority educational institutions. After the 93rd Amendment Act, the Central Educational Institutions (reservation in admission) Act was enacted by the Union Parliament in the year 2006.
In April 2008, a 5-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court upheld the Constitution (93rd Amendment) Act, and reinstated the Act in a judgement delivered by Chief Justice IndiaK. G. Balakrishnan, with Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakker, R V Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari. OBC reservations were implemented in all central universities and institutions, but the government was required to exclude the creamy layer from the OBC, but not SC/ST.[21]
A case under the Anti-Dowry Act was registered against Arjun Singh in 2007. The then Uttar Pradesh government had decided to seek CBI inquiry into dowry harassment case.[24]
Arjun Singh was accused of irregularities and corruption in the grant of "Deemed University" status to private for-profit educational institutions which did not meet requisite educational standards, during his tenure as Minister for Human Resources Development. The Government of India initiated proceedings to repeal the "Deemed University" status of 44 such institutions in January 2010.[25]
1963 - 1967 Minister of State for Agriculture, General Administration Department (GAD) and Information & Public Relations, Government of Madhya Pradesh
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O. P. Ralhan (1998). Encyclopaedia of political parties : India, Pakistan, Bangladesh; national, regional, local. Anmol Publications. ISBN81-7488-865-9. p. 89
^ abc"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 June 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2006.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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