The All-India Defence SC & ST Employees' Federation (AIDSCSTEF) has asked the authorities to undertake a special drive to clear backlog posts.
At a national seminar here at Manasi auditorium on premises of NSTL on ‘SC & ST employees: Rights, privileges and responsibilities,' a resolution was moved to fill the backlog posts, recruit local SC and ST candidates on a priority and follow post base roster. The seminar attended by employees working in various defence units demanded a liberal promotion policy for SC and STs and regular meetings of joint consultative machinery, action against circulation of bogus certificates and harassment on caste lines.
Speaking at the valedictory, federation all-India president Netram Tagela said the SCs and STs should bury their differences and fight untied to achieve their rights and privileges as guaranteed in the Constitution.
He urged the SCs and STs to follow the ideals of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, main architect of the Constitution, and asked the Centre to give equal importance to Dr. Ambedkar's memorial on par with Rajghat. All the foreign dignitaries should be taken to Dr. Ambedkar's memorial as they were being escorted to Rajghat. Federation general secretary M. Narsinga Rao read out the annual report and opined that infighting among the leaders of the community would send wrong signals. He said the quota for SCs and STs was fixed respectively at 15 and 7.5 per cent whereas as per last census their population had increased to 22 and 11 per cent.
Araku MLA Siveri Somu and Visakha North MLA Tainala Vijay Kumar, GVMC Congress floor leader Behera Bhaskara Rao, 67 ward corporator Chengala Venkatalakshmi and others spoke.
