New Delhi, Nov 22 : Pattali Makkal Katachi (PMK) and the Left parties took out a rally here today demanding additional quota for students of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in state-run colleges.

The protestors led by S. Ramadoss, the PMK founder and president, criticised the apex court for passing a stay order on implementation of OBC quotas in the Central institutions of higher learning.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said: “Other Backward Classes (OBCs) require reservation. The law has been passed in Parliament, but could not be implemented. Reservation in jobs and educational institutions is necessary to build a new India and we support it."

The protestors also demanded jobs for the OBCs in state-run organisations.

CPI-M leader D. Raja said: “It is already too late that 27 per cent reservation has not been provided in jobs and in all educational institutions to the educationally and socially backward classes. It is very distressing that the judgment is not cleared. Whatever the parliament has decided it is an Act of the Parliament.”

The government wants to boost the reservation in college seats to 49.5 percent from 22.5 percent.

The law providing 27 percent reservation for the OBCs in higher educational institutions was also made. But, the apex court in its March 29 interim order had stayed the implementation of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, providing 27 percent quota for OBC.

There have been sporadic protests in several parts of the country since the court scrapped a government policy and called for more accurate data on numbers and the educational status of the Other Backward Classes before moving ahead with new quotas. (ANI)