Sikh passengers travelling by air are allowed to carry a kirpan provided the blade does not exceed six inches and the total length of it is no more than nine inches, the Union cabinet has decided.
The decision was based on a recommendation from the National Commission of Minorities (NCM), Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Kirpan is a ceremonial weapon every Sikh is mandated to carry according to the religion’s tenets.
The cabinet also decided to ask the state and central police forces to ensure adequate representation of minorities. The decision was also in line with an NCM recommendation.
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For the first time in more than 70 years, a sample count of the Other Backward Classes has been made with an official survey pegging their numbers at 41 per cent of India’s population.
The OBC numbers have been in debate ever since the V.P. Singh government announced 27 per cent reservation for OBCs based on the Mandal Commission recommendations and there has been strong resentment to claims that the section constitutes more than 70 per cent of the population.
The National Sample Survey Organisation, which enumerated 79,306 households in rural areas and 45,374 in urban regions, concluded that besides OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Tribes account for another 28 per cent of the population. |
