In what could affect a large number of candidates from the reserved category seeking government jobs, the State government has directed the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) to change the contours of reservation in direct recruitments.
The earlier policy allowed meritorious candidates from the reserved category to be appointed under general merit category too. However, a recent Government Order has limited meritorious candidates from reserved category to be recruited in general category.
What this means, according to Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge, who has shot off a letter to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, is that only 50% of the government jobs will be the limit for 93% of the population that is eligible to qualify under direct reservation. Seeking immediate intervention of Mr. Kumaraswamy, he said this move will affect a large number of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes and minorities.
Citing a November 2, 2018 government direction to the KPSC that guidelines given by the High Court had to be adhered to strictly during recruitment for the 2015 batch of gazetted probationers, Mr. Kharge has said that such a direction was disturbing. He said that the court’s order of 2016 applies to cases that were referred to it and not to other direct recruitments. “The government has not issued any clear orders in this respect. This move is against the social justice envisaged in the Constitution,” he has pointed out.
Mr. Kharge said that in several cases that the Supreme Court has dealt on reservation, it has only pointed out that the reservation limit should not exceed 50% and nowhere has it restricted the chances of meritorious candidates from reserved categories to take up jobs through the general category.
Meeting with Siddaramaiah
Meanwhile, in another development on Saturday evening, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is learnt to have assured a delegation of SC, ST employees that the issue of implementing the Consequential Seniority Act that deals with reservation in promotion will be raised in the next coordination meeting of the coalition.
“Mr. Siddaramaiah told the delegation that he had already raised the issue on two occasions and the government had agreed to implement the Act. He promised to raise the issue in the next coordination committee meeting and get the Congress Ministers to raise the issue in Cabinet as well,” an official who was part of the delegation said.
According to the official: “The delegation requested Mr. Siddaramaiah that since the Act was his contribution in safeguarding the interest of the SCs, STs, we urged him that it was his responsibility to ensure that the coalition government implements it.”
As many as 64,400 SC, ST officials have lost seniority in the demotion process that took place after the Supreme Court order, he added.
