SC/ST promotion Act: Govt to wait till SC hearing

The Cabinet on Thursday decided to wait for a Supreme Court hearing on October 12 before going ahead with implementing the provisions of a legislation restoring reservation in promotions for employees belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

President Ram Nath Kovind has already given his assent to the Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation (To the Posts in the Civil Services of the State) Act, 2017.

The Act aims at sidestepping a Supreme Court directive that struck down reservations for SC/STs in promotions.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Law Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said as there was no court stay, the general opinion in the Cabinet was that the government could go ahead and implement the provisions of the Act.

“But we decided to wait till the October 12 hearing in the Supreme Court. There have been nine hearings so far and there has been no court stay on implementing the provisions of the legislation,” Gowda said.

During the previous Cabinet meeting, Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge is said to have offered to resign if he is not in a position to protect the interests of the SC/STs. Kharge hails from the SC community.

The Cabinet also decided that the government would enter into an agreement with France-based Dassault Systemes for setting up centres of excellence in skill development at the Government Tool Room and Training Centres (GTTCs) at Yadgir, Humnabad, Lingasugur and Hosapete at a cost of Rs 224.08 crore.

The Cabinet decided to hand over alternative land worth Rs 286 crore to the Defence Ministry in lieu of 45,165 sqm of land transferred by the ministry to the government for 10 infrastructure projects in Bengaluru. The Defence Ministry recently agreed to hand over land to the authorities concerned for the projects in exchange for land of equal value elsewhere.

The Cabinet decided to come to the rescue of coconut growers in distress as their trees withered due to drought and disease. A sum of Rs 178 crore has been earmarked to be paid as compensation to the growers (either Rs 400 per tree or Rs 18,000 per hectare). It is estimated that coconut trees on 44.54 lakh hectares have completely withered due to drought from 2015-17. Gowda said the Centre had not released any compensation, despite repeated pleas by the state government.