Quota in promotion to be a political hot potato
About 20,000 employees of SC/ST category to be affected by apex court order, UPPCL will be first dept to release list
LUCKNOW: Reservation in promotion is going to the next big issue in the politically volatile Uttar Pradesh with the lobbies for and against the quota refusing to back down from their respective standpoints.
Those opposing reservation say they have an upper hand and cite a Supreme Court ruling against quota in promotion.
About 20,000 employees of the SC/ST category will be affected by the apex court order in Uttar Pradesh. The government has not come out with a department wise break-up list of employees to be demoted following the Supreme Court order.
The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation would be the first department to release such a list of employees on Wednesday. Among the political parties, the Congress and the BJP have maintained a strategic silence on the issue.
Only the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have taken a clear stand. The SP has opposed reservation in promotion while the BSP is in its favour.
The apex court has already set a deadline of September 15 for the Samajwadi Party (SP) government to demote all employees who were earlier elevated under the reservation in promotion policy.
The All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations is now creating a pressure group of MPs of the SC/ST category to press for a bill in the Lok Sabha to pave the way for reservation in promotion.
Making the first move, the pro-reservation group under the banner of Arakshan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti met BJP MP Kaushal Kishore recently to press for a constitutional amendment to ensure reservation in promotion.
“Introducing a bill in Parliament to neutralise the Supreme Court order is the only way left to ensure reservation in promotion,” said Jagjivan Prasad, state president and national coordinator of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations which plans to hold a big rally in the state capital before the winter session of Parliament.
On t he other hand, t he Sarvajan Hitay Sanrakshan Samiti headed by Shailendra Dubey is spearheading the fight against reservation in promotion.
The Samiti fought the legal battle up to the apex court and was instrumental in mobilising the anti-reservation group of the state government employees.
“The apex court has directed chief secretary Alok Ranjan to file an affidavit by September 15, informing it about compliance of the Supreme Court’s order to demote all SC/ST employees promoted under reservation in promotion policy,” he added.
The Samiti has also issued a warning to political parties. “Implementing the apex court order is now a purely administrative issue and no political party must interfere in it,” Dubey asserted.