Mallikarjun Kharge
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bengaluru: All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge called on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to ensure that reservation rules were being strictly adhered to in the awarding of promotions to Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) government employees in the state.
In his letter to the CM, Kharge expressed concern over SC/ST employees in the state continuing to face injustice. The AICC chief pointed to rising discontent among SC/ST employees reportedly because of the failure to ensure reservation-based promotion. Disgruntlement among employees is bound to adversely impact administration, warned Kharge.
The veteran Congressman’s letter to the CM assumes significance in the light of complaints raised by the Karnataka Government SC/ST Employees’ Association, which has alleged that the reservation roster was ignored in the awarding of promotions in nine government departments – Home, Forest, Agriculture, among others. Kharge urged the CM to personally look at the complaints raised by the association.
In the 2017 Pavitra (1) Case, the Supreme Court struck down the 2002 Promotion Reservation Act, which resulted in the demotion of 3,798 SC/ST employees, besides affecting 65,000 others. The government subsequently introduced the Consequential Seniority Act, 2017, which would be upheld by the apex court in the Pavitra (2) case. This annulled the demotion of the SC/ST employees, besides mandating a fresh review of seniority dating back to April 27, 1978.
But the association has alleged that a circular issued by some officials on June 24,2019 sought to prevent SC/ST employees from getting a promotion. The association has further accused the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms of issuing clarifications that are misleading, which has further impacted the implementation of promotion orders.
One of the examples cited by the association is the Department of School Education’s failure to promote 80 lecturers – 67 SC and 13 ST – to the post of principal despite recommendations by the respective committees.
Association president D Chandrashekarayya has accused senior officials across departments of blatantly violating reservation rules, and denying promotion to SC/ST employees.