De-reservation of SC/ST jobs ends

De-reservation of SC/ST jobs ends
9 Oct 2008, 0234 hrs IST



NEW DELHI: In a bid to discourage undermining of quotas for the underprivileged, the Cabinet on Wednesday decided to end de-reservation of posts
meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in central government jobs.

At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Cabinet approved enactment of a law to enforce job reservation for SCs/STs by stipulating penalties on offices which did not implement them effectively. Finance minister P Chidambaram said the Cabinet approved the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation in Posts and Services) Bill 2008. ''Posts reserved for SCs and STs will not be de-reserved and they (vacancies) will be carried over,'' he said, adding that the proposed bill would contain provisions for penalties on offices which did not implement the job quota.

Chidambaram said the proposed legislation would contain provisions to impart training to SCs and STs to enable them to compete for jobs. The bill also proposed that those candidates who qualify on merit would not be considered under the quota, he said. ''The proposed law will create an unambiguous, coherent and authentic framework for implementing reservation for SCs and STs in central government services,'' Chidambaram said.

The proposed law would bring in ''interpretative clarity about various facets of the policy on reservation in central government jobs and infuse greater confidence in the minds of the SCs and STs,'' he added.