P L Punia, chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and a Congress MP, has been at the forefront of SC/ST reservation in government job promotions. He tells Kavita Chowdhury an ordinance should be brought in on the issue soon
The SC/ST quota in the job promotions Bill, introduced in the Rajya Sabha, is actually a Constitutional amendment the government is proposing...
The provision for reservation in promotion for SCs/STs exists since 1955. In 1992, the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case stated reservation was unconstitutional. As a result of that, the 77th Constitutional amendment, in 1995 stated that “nothing shall prevent the state from making reservations in promotions for SC/ST”. Subsequently in 2006, in the M Nagaraj case, the Supreme Court stated that the Constitutional amendment was an enabling provision. If the state wanted to implement this, it would have to comply with three conditions - establish backwardness, inadequacy of representation and ensure efficiency in administration was not jeopardised. This created anomalies. How do you provide data on backwardness, because untouchability still exists? Therefore, the present 117th Constitutional amendment says till the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is listed in the list of SCs and STs in Article 341 and 342, respectively, those shall be deemed to be backward.
Moreover, the amendment also states that notwithstanding any other provision elsewhere in the Constitution or in Article 16 and Article 335, nothing shall prevent the state from making reservation in promotions to the extent of existing reservations, that is 15 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively. This will take care of adequacy of representation. We are just removing the hurdles in making reservations in promotions. I want to clarify that it is not a grant of any additional benefit to SC/STs.
However, what the UPA government is proposing is what has already been struck down by the Supreme Court, like the Uttar Pradesh SC/ST quota in job promotions. Moreover, your own Attorney General G E Vahanvati has cautioned the Bill could be thrown out by the SC...
What the Supreme Court struck down was the UP Promotion Rules 2008, because it was done without satisfying the three conditions set by the Court in the M Nagaraj case. The SC did not say reservations in promotions was ‘unconstitutional’, the rules that had been framed were unconstitutional, proper care had not been taken.
As for what the attorney general said, he said the SC/ST Bill was likely to be challenged. Every law is challenged in the SC, but that doesn’t mean that Parliament should sit idle. By this exercise (Bill), the only thing we are doing is ensuring this requirement of going for a study or providing data shall be set aside or waived.
Why the sudden hurry to introduce this Bill in the last three days of Parliament’s monsoon session? The UPA is being accused of using this as a diversion tactic from Coalgate...
I reject that charge. It’s an important piece of legislation. The Parliamentary forum of SC MPs has been demanding it for quite some time; we also held a dharna during the last Budget session. Thereafter, there was an all-party meeting and a law was drafted which was then sent to the Cabinet. This takes time. We had the sufficient numbers and we could have passed it if there was order in the House. There was no major opposition to the Bill, except from the Samajwadi party. Even the BJP supported it. But, then they did not let the House function, so it could not be passed. This was clearly no diversion tactic.
The Congress has been accused of playing caste-based vote bank politics by bringing in this Bill just before crucial elections in Gujarat and Himachal. In fact, Mayawati has slammed the Congress on this charge...
This is wrong. It’s the Congress party’s commitment to the Dalits. Mayawati is aware that with this action of the UPA, Dalit votes are likely to be diverted from the BSP to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. In the rest of the country, Dalits are already with the Congress, that’s why she’s accusing us.
It has always been a Congress commitment and the amendment in 1995 was brought about by the Congress government. It is going to benefit the society and if by that it gets us votes, what is wrong with that?
The government has been citing data to bolster its stand like only 17 per cent officers in Group A are from SC/ST, while group D (sweepers) is replete with SCs and STs. But isn’t this a failure of the government’s educational policies?
It is a failure of the government’s policies, education and other policies. And, it is also true reservations in promotions alone will not solve the basic problem of Dalits. Social problems are at the root of it. Direct recruitment also won’t help, but they give a certain fillip and advantage to the SC/ST community.
Let me clarify this reservation in promotion will be applicable only while moving up from one class to another, let’s say from Group D to Group C. But there will be no reservation within a category. For someone from the SC/ST who comes in through a non-IPS entry like in the provincial police services, as an ACP, he can be promoted through this quota to the level of an SP in the central services. But, once in the IPS service, he cannot be promoted thereafter, with the help of this quota.
Doesn’t this policy signify the death of merit and isn’t it time caste-based reservations were abolished?
It doesn’t. Remember, SCs and STs can be promoted only if their performance ACRs are good. Parties like the Samajwadi Party are spreading lies about the unfair benefits to SCs and STs. Non-performing and inefficient employees cannot be promoted.
Such a policy will only help a section of society that has been denied benefits historically. I’ll be the first person to say goodbye to this quota if we had equal opportunities for all SCs and STs. Today, we don’t even hold land even. If the caste system stopped existing in India and there was no untouchability, there would be no need for reservations. But till the time such a scenario exists, there has to be special dispensation.
How are you planning to take the issue of reservations in promotions forward, given the government has only managed to introduce it in Parliament?
As chairman of the SC/ ST Commission and as someone who belongs to the community, I have been consistently raising this issue at various forums, and in Parliament. I have personally met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to push it through.
My next attempt will be to see it is cleared through an ordinance. It is an urgent matter and we tried passing the Bill in Parliament, but since the House was adjourned sine die, we need to get it moving through an ordinance. I have spoken to Union minister, Sushilkumar Shinde and Social Justice minister Mukul Wasnik. I’ll be taking it up with the Prime Minister; after all, it is for the benefit of the community at large.
