Southern States - Karnataka

Karnataka SC, ST officers' complaint

By K.N.Venkatasubba Rao

BANGALORE May 27. The Association of SC and ST Officers and Employees of the Department of Kannada and Culture has decided to seek the intervention of the Government following the "uninterrupted violation of reservation policy and the norms of cadre and recruitment rules by the authorities of the department'' in the past 15 years.

The association told The Hindu that it was forced to take up the issue at the highest level in the Government after its repeated oral requests and written memoranda and "instructions" from superior officers had been treated with scant respect by the department authorities.

The Government's decision to absorb M.N.Chandrappa and Somashekhara M.Vali serving as Assistant Directors in Chikkamagalur and Gadag respectively "in violation of reservation policy and the norms of cadre and recruitment rules" had triggered the association's decision and reportedly created a "disturbing situation" in the department.

Promotion blocked

In a memorandum to the Chief Minister on February 5, the association explained that 19 officers who were absorbed in the department since 1986 were on deputation to the department. Of them, 10 were Lingayats, three Vokkaligas, two SC/STs, and one each from Brahmin, Rajput, Muslim, and Banajiga castes.

The absorption of such officials (a majority of them are from the Department of Education) disturbed the organisational structure of the department, including the blockade of promotional prospects of SCs and STs and other employees and the increasing influence of a particular caste, the association said.

Meanwhile, the then Director, Kannada and Culture, forwarded a recommendation (November 8, 2000) from a Joint Director in favour of Mr. Chandrappa and Mr. Vali.

The Joint Director in question was the custodian of administrative policies and allegedly misled the then Director although he was aware of the association's opposition to the absorption of officials on deputation and its memorandum to the Government at the behest of the then Secretary to the department.

Notification

Realising the sensitive nature of the issue, the Government, in its notification of October 16, 2001, asked the department to repatriate Mr. Chandrappa and Mr. Vali to their parent department (Education).

The Deputy Secretary to the Government in his letter of November 11, 2001 asked the authorities to relieve Mr. Chandrappa and Mr. Vali from the services of the Directorate of Kannada and Culture and inform the Government of the action taken.

Referring to another memorandum by the association on March 30, 2002, the Under Secretary to the Chief Minister asked the then Secretary, Kannada and Culture Department, to initiate action on the reported violation of reservation policy as stated in the memorandum.

But the department did not take action even after March 31 for "its own reasons''.

The Government, on May 16, issued absorption orders in favour of Mr. Chandrappa and Mr. Vali with no "formal approval by the authorities concerned at the Education Secretariat.

Any absorption will be invalid if it is not approved by the secretariat of the parent department," the association said.

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