New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Nearly 100 anti-quota activists began a hunger strike here Thursday, accusing the government of circumventing a Supreme Court order on 27 percent quota for other backward classes (OBC) in academic institutions and extending the benefit to post-graduate students. The activists of Youth for Equality, which spearheaded the anti-quota protests, went on a hunger strike at the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) campus in central Delhi.

“The government should implement the order in its true spirit,” said an activist.

The Supreme Court May 16 vacated a Calcutta High Court order staying the implementation of the quota in post-graduate courses, including the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

The apex court also stayed all legal proceedings on the quota issue pending in the high courts of Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay.

The Supreme Court April 10 upheld a controversial law providing 27 percent quota for OBCs in Indian institutes of technology and management, and other central educational institutions but excluded the “creamy layer” from its ambit.