The Times of India News Service

LUCKNOW: After announcing his government's resolve to extend reservation benefits for the MBCs, chief minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday assured jobs for them in his present tenure, a move that could wean the Backwards away from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party.

"By middle of August separate reservation for the MBCs would be announced and immediately after that I will advertise posts and give them jobs in the government sector," he said emphatically.

In an interview to The Times of India here the CM said: "I would ensure that these discarded castes reaped the benefits of reservation as early as possible. For that, I am ready to go to any extent."

The government had earlier announced that it would create 15,000 posts in the near future. For this, the World Bank's permission had already been taken. With the reservation policy undergoing a change, around 5,000 posts will automatically go to the Most Backwards and the Dalits among the Dalits.

The CM explained that in no way will the reservation exceed the 50 per cent limit prescribed by the Supreme Court, but he was not sure about the percentage of reservation that would be given to the Most Backwards and the Dalits. "Probably, it could be 15 per cent each for MBCs and Dalits. It could also be more than that," said Rajnath and added: "The nitty-gritty of the reservation would be decided by the social justice panel. "

To study the modalities of the reservation for MBCs and its implementation, a team of officials will visit Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where this reservation policy exists. The chief minister said that he was not curtailing the reservation benefits of any caste but was trying to ensure that all those castes which had been deprived of the benefits could get their just right. "It is a fact that so far only two or three castes among the Backwards and Dalits had been enjoying the reservation benefits. This should stop now," he said.

The CM's decision to give reservation benefits to Backwards has already set the political agenda for the next Assembly election. The Opposition parties- - both SP and BSP -- have criticised the CM's announcement as an election stunt. Attacking these parties, the CM said : "Neither Mulayam Singh nor Mayawati want that Backwards among the Backward should get reservation benefits. They are opposing it because they want reservation benefits for their caste brothers only."

Agreeing that the party would get political mileage out of this decision, he said: "The party which works for the welfare of masses is bound to reap apolitically good harvest." When his attention was drawn towards intelligence report about the possible poor electoral results for the BJP, the CM retorted: "That is a thing of past. The party is gaining ground and will do exceptionally well. "