Higher education regulator must oversee Article 15(5) implementation: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday demanded that any regulator set up for higher education should be mandated to oversee the implementation of Article 15(5) of the Constitution, which allows the government to mandate reservations for SC, ST and OBC students in private institutions.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said Article 15(5) was inserted by the Manmohan Singh government through the 93rd Amendment that came into effect exactly 20 years ago today.

He said the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, to set up a single regulator for higher education in the country was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 15, 2025, and referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee the next day.

"Any such regulator should be mandated to oversee the implementation of Article 15(5) of the Constitution that came into effect exactly twenty years ago today. Article 15(5) was inserted by Dr Manmohan Singh's Government through the 93rd Amendment," Ramesh said on X.

It was a historic moment which allowed the introduction of 27 per cent reservation for OBC students in centrally-funded higher education institutions (HEIs), including the IITs, IIMs, central universities, and NITs, Ramesh said.

Since then, lakhs of OBC students have availed of this reservation, bringing economic and social mobility to millions, he said.

"Article 15(5) also allows the Government to mandate reservations for students from scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities, as well as for students from the OBCs in private institutions of higher education. But this had been subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court," he said.

"It was only on May 6, 2014, that the Supreme Court had, in the Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust vs Union of India case, categorically upheld the validity of Article 15(5), making it clear that reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBC students are permissible in private higher education institutions as well," Ramesh said.

However, there is currently no law passed by Parliament which enforces Article 15(5), he said.

In August 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education presented a report that called on Parliament to pass a law mandating reservations for scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, and other backward classes in private higher educational institutions, he said.

The committee found that their representation in private educational institutions is abysmally and unacceptably low, Ramesh pointed out.

On this historic occasion, the Congress Party reiterates its commitment to social justice as embodied in Article 15 (5) and calls on the Modi government to implement it in full, Ramesh said. PTI ASK RHL