The government has reportedly decided to go ahead with the Supreme Court verdict on the Other Backward Classes quota issue.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, took the decision.The meeting was also attended by senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Lalu Prasad, T R Baalu, Shivraj Patil and Sushilkumar Shinde.
Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh briefed the committee on the pros and cons of the apex court decision, which exempted the creamy layer from the purview of the OBC quota.
The decision would help the HRD Ministry to issue a communication to higher educational institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Management, which had earlier decided to put on hold the admission process.
Singh had said last week that the government would implement the Supreme Court verdict on the OBC quota issue.
At the same time, Singh sought to mollify United Progressive Alliance allies, who are upset over the exclusion of the creamy layer, saying the government as also the UPA favoured quota benefit for them.
"The Supreme Court verdict is implementable and it will be implemented," Singh had said.
The HRD minister, who had played a proactive role for the reservation issue, said that without confronting the apex court, the government would examine suggestions from allies.