Lucknow: UP chief minister Mayawati was already in the limelight after her government banned the screening of the film Aarakshan in the state. She suffered a setback after the Supreme Court lifted the ban a few weeks back. Now the chief minister has stirred up a new controversy with a statement that she made today. She said that she is totally against the present concept of reservation in trains which she claims is anti-dalit. Here is the full statement: “I am totally against the current reservation policy followed by Indian railways. It is a farce. The Indian railways calls it reservation just to mislead the public and create an illusion that they are ensuring social equality and justice. I had constituted a committee headed by me to study the reservation system in trains. We have found out that the train reservation system is totally flawed and ineffective. The 1100 page report clearly points out the shortcomings of the current railway reservation system and gives detailed recommendations. For instance, there are some general compartments in almost all the trains. There is no reservation in these general coaches. We actually found out that most of the people who travel by general compartments are poor dalits and people belonging to backward castes. The other compartments are reserved coaches. The railways has dubiously given the name of ‘reserved coach’ to these. Our study clearly shows that many people from forward castes benefit from reservation and gain easy entry into reserved coaches. All they have to do is book the ticket in advance. The railways has tried to create an impression that they have a reservation system along the lines of the reservation policy prevalent in educational institutions etc. But their double standard has been clearly exposed. This is outrageous. This is a conspiracy. The UP government would formally appeal to the ministry of railways and the prime minister to totally abolish the current railway reservation system and to implement a strictly caste-based reservation system on all trains. Instead of the current sleeper class, I AC, II AC, III AC, general, Chair Car, Second Sitting etc, we propose that there should be SC/ST, OBC, General coaches and also exclusive coaches for muslims and other religious minorities. 22.5% of all the coaches should be SC/ST coaches, 27% OBC coaches, 50.5% for muslims and religious minorities and the rest for general. The UP government would also seek permission to install the current chief minister’s statue in each compartment of all the trains entering or leaving UP. Also, we put forward a proposal to introduce elephant powered trains instead of the electric or diesel powered engines. I am also requesting for a sanction of a special train exclusively for my private use. Some people have been criticizing this as impractical, unreasonable and mindless. When CMs can have private aircraft why can’t they have private trains? We are confident that the PM would consider our appeal seriously. We would organize a nationwide agitation if our proposals are not accepted.” Mayawati’s personal secretary, Shruthi reminded her about another appeal in the proposal – that 1% of the ticket fare of all tickets booked in UP should go to a separate birthday celebration fund for Mayawati. Mayawati added: “Yes, Of Course. I forgot. That is the most important demand.”
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