The UPA government is planning to take a major step before the 2014 General Elections. According to a leading daily, the government has a plan to set up five universities with as much as 50 percent reservation for the minorities.
The daily has quoted Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan as saying that socio-economic backwardness would be the key determinant for the reservation. He further clarified that the minorities would not comprise just religious minorities, but also those mentioned in Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution.
The five states that are being considered for the setting up of these universities are Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Bengal and Maharashtra.
According to reports, in Uttar Pradesh, the Centre is considering to set up a university in Rae Bareli, the constituency of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Another university is being planned in Srirangapatna in Karnataka, which has elected a Congress government.