Anglo-Indians hopeful of reclaiming reservation

KOLKATA: An 11-member team of Anglo-Indians met Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in Delhi on Tuesday and returned with the assurance that the "doors were not shut" on the issue of

reservation

of seats for the community in Parliament and state assemblies. Prasad said that he would consider all the points that the community has raised in favour of the reservation in a memorandum that was submitted to him.

The community lost its representation after an amendment to the Constitution brought an end to the reservation on January 25. Reservation for the SC/STs, however, continues. The reason put forth by the Centre was that the community was small and consisted of only 296 members and, hence, no reservation was necessary.

The 11-member delegation, led by Barry O'Brien, president of the All India Anglo-Indian Association, corrected this "mistake" and told the minister that the community's strength was over 3.5 lakh. The representatives came from different parts of the country to prove the geographical span, across which the community was spread.

"We think we have been able to convince him that we are a cultural and linguistic minority that needs this protection by way of reservation for our representation in Parliament and the state assemblies." O'Brien said.