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Centre pushes for quota in promotion for SCs/STs
News:
- Recently, the government began its push for providing “accelerated promotion with consequential seniority” for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) members in public employment.
Important facts:
2. Nagaraj judgment 2006:
- As per Nagaraj judgment 2006 , the government cannot introduce a quota in promotion for its SC/ST employees unless following conditions are fulfilled:
a) Unless they prove that the particular Dalit community is backward.
b) Unless that community is inadequately represented.
c) Such a reservation in promotion would not affect the efficiency of public administration.
- The judgment was mean to find a “stable equilibrium between justice to the backwards, equity for the forwards and efficiency for the entire system”.
- According to the judgment three qualifiers (Backwardness, inadequacy and administrative efficiency) were meant to prevent “reverse discrimination” by State.
- It was also stated that the state will have to see that its reservation provisions does not lead to excessiveness so as to breach the ceiling limit of 50% or obliterate the creamy layer or extend reservation indefinitely.
3. Now, the government wants refer the 2006 verdict to a larger bench for a re-examination because:
- It had argued that the 2006 verdict had created an “impossible situation” for providing accelerated promotions with consequential seniority for SC/ST communities in government services.
4. The government’s stand on this:
- The government objected to a creamy layer concept among the SC/ST.
- Government wanted a total of 22.5% (15% for SC+7.5% for ST) posts reserved for promotion for SC/ST in public employment.
- Most States did not prepare quantifiable data to show inadequacy/adequacy of representation.
- On this, Attorney General K.K Venugopal said data keeps fluctuating and it is not static and filling up vacancies was a dynamic and continuous process.
5. Last year, a two-judge Supreme Court Bench, had re-opened the issue of creamy layer and quota in promotions for SC/ST by referring them to a Constitution Bench.
6. However, the two judge bench’s referral was based on a series of questions of law such as:
- Article 16(4):- Which deals with the States power for providing for appointments or posts for “any backwards class of citizens”.
- Article 16(4A):- Which arms the state with power to make provisions for quota in promotion with consequential seniority to SC/ST communities.
- Article 16(4B):- which deals with unfilled vacancies of a year reserved for SC/ST kept from being filled up.
