The Hindu : U.P. ordinance reverses quota policy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 08, 2002

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Other States - Uttar Pradesh

U.P. ordinance reverses quota policy

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW JUNE 7. The Uttar Pradesh Governor, Vishnu Kant Shastri, has promulgated the State Services (Reservation for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the other Backward Castes) Amendment Ordinance, 2002, to allow recruitment of employees in Government services in accordance with the reservation policy as it existed before the tenure of Rajnath Singh as the Chief Minister.

The ordinance has reversed the effects of the earlier legislation through which the former BJP Government had tried to create a separate quota in jobs for most Dalits and most backwards in the statutory reservation available to the two categories of candidates.

Recruitment in State Government services had come to a halt following a stay granted by the Supreme Court on the implementation of the legislation enacted during the Rajnath Singh regime.

The new alliance Government headed by the Chief Minister, Mayawati, decided to reverse the policy to facilitate filling of posts in government jobs.

Nearly 21,000 posts in various categories have been lying vacant in the State and recruitments could be made immediately to fill the vacancies as a result of the new legislation.

While logically, the step taken by Ms. Mayawati could hardly be faulted, one group in the BJP has been trying to look at it as a deliberate attempt to slight Rajnath Singh.Instead of reversing the reservation law the Mayawati Government could have tried to get vacated the stay order granted by the Supreme Court, argue her BJP critics.

The BJP as a party has failed to take a clear-cut stand on the issue.

While one group in the party sympathetic to Mr. Singh feels the former Chief Minister has been let down, Ms. Mayawati has only increased the discomfiture of the party by disclosing that she had consulted the senior BJP Ministers before the Cabinet's decision to amend the Act.

The exposures that the senior Ministers belonging to the BJP have been vying with one another to gain the confidence of Ms. Mayawati has left them red faced.

It has also exposed the divide in the party on caste lines.

Ms. Mayawati has revealed that the senior BJP Minister, Om Prakash Singh, himself had approached her with the request to change the law enacted by Mr. Singh.

When Ms. Mayawati pointed out that this could hurt Mr. Singh he said that the interest of people was more important than the ego of one person.

Om Prakash Singh, however, requested Ms. Mayawati not to disclose her name and keep his advice as a secret.

Besides disclosing the details of her conversation with Om Prakash Singh, Ms. Mayawati revealed that she had consulted BJP Ministers, Lalji Tandon and Hukum Singh.

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