Sam Pitroda Opposes Reservation in IITs and IIMs, Old Video Surfaces

Sam Pitroda, amid controversy over the "colour of citizens" remark, stepped down as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress on Wednesday but his troubles don’t seem to be over yet.

An old video of Pitroda surfaced on social media, in which he was seen opposing reservations in premier institutions like IITs and IIMs.

In the undated video, Pitroda admits that reservation brings parity and equal opportunities but the premiere institutes should be kept out of its ambit to "preserve their sanctity".

"We discussed about creating a framework for providing equal opportunities but concluded that the institutions of excellence should be left out of this. They should not be messed up," Pitroda was heard telling the interviewer.

He further said that the directors of these institutions are also concerned about the disparity but bringing them under quota ambit will offer no good.

Notably, his stand on reservation goes against Rahul Gandhi’s poll plank of maximizing the ambit of reservations for social justice to all.

Rahul Gandhi has been pushing, at election rallies, for caste census as well as "jitni abaadi, utna haq". Congress manifesto also clearly mentions about a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.

Earlier in the day, Pitroda's remarks stirred a major row, where he said, "A diverse country, where people on the East look like Chinese, people on the West look like Arab, people on the North look like may be White and people in the South look like Africa.”