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The Congress connected Tuesday (January 20, 2026) said that immoderate regulator for higher acquisition indispensable beryllium mandated to oversee the implementation of Article 15(5) of the Constitution, which empowers the State to supply reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) successful backstage acquisition institutions.
Referring to the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, which seeks to found a azygous regulator for higher acquisition and was introduced successful the Lok Sabha connected December 15, 2025, earlier being referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, Congress wide caput (communications) Jairam Ramesh said specified a assemblage indispensable person a wide mandate to guarantee the implementation of Article 15(5).
“Any specified regulator should beryllium mandated to oversee the implementation of Article 15(5) of the Constitution, which came into effect precisely 20 years agone today,”Mr Ramesh said.
He urged the Narendra Modi-led authorities to afloat instrumentality Article 15(5) connected the 20th day of its enactment done the 93rd Constitutional Amendment by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government.
‘Historic moment’
Calling it a historical moment, Mr. Ramesh said the amendment enabled the instauration of a 27% preservation for OBC students successful Centrally-funded higher acquisition institutions (HEIs), including the IITs, IIMs, Central Universities, and NITs. “Since then, lakhs of students from the OBC communities person availed of this reservation, bringing economical and societal mobility to millions,” helium said.
Article 15(5) besides permits the authorities to mandate reservations for SC, ST and OBC students successful backstage higher acquisition institutions, Mr. Ramesh said, noting that its validity was upheld by the Supreme Court successful the Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust vs Union of India judgement connected May 6, 2014.
Despite this, Parliament has not enacted immoderate instrumentality to enforce the provision, helium said. He cited an August 2025 study of the Parliamentary Standing Committee connected Education, which called for authorities to mandate reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs successful backstage higher acquisition institutions, pointing to their “abysmally and unacceptably low” representation.
