The poll-wary Congress-led UPA government on Thursday decided to take one vital step to add a feather in its cap by allowing to fill a backlog of more than 28,000 vacancies reserved for Other Backward Candidates (OBCs) in the government services. These vacancies, as per the Union Cabinet approval, would be treated as backlog separated from the limit of 50 percent reservation in a year.
The backlog vacancy was originally meant for the Schedule Castes/Schedule Tribes (SC/ST), but after the Cabinet's approval the scheme would be implemented now for OBCs too.
After the Cabinet meeting the Minister of State for PMO Prithviraj Chavan, while talking to reporters, said that “the backlog would be treated as separate and distinct other than the 50 percent reservation in a year” mandated by the constitution and as per the 1997 Supreme Court order for not to exceed the quota beyond 50 percent.
However on the pretext of the backwardness of the reserved category people, the Parliament sought exemption from the Apex Court order through the 81st amendment of the Constitution by filling the backlog seats for SCs and STs through a special recruitment drive designed especially for them. Now the same backlog scheme is being implemented to benefit a large section among OBCs.
The decision to extend the scheme to OBCs is taken with the objective to augment the reach of welfare schemes of the government so as the gap in services deficient tribal areas could be filled in multi sectors such as education, health, drinking water, agro-horticultural productivity, and social security through the efforts of voluntary organisations.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) also nodded for continuation of the “Grant-in-Aid” scheme to voluntary organisations working for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes (STs). The revised guidelines of the scheme issued on April 1 this year would also continue.
The Group of Ministers also gave green signal to a slew of measures to benefit SCs and STs. Under a special scheme to promote girls' education, the government also approved to bear the burden of Rs. 1,500 crore during the 11th Plan for increasing number of girls in secondary schools.
The scheme would be made operative from the current fiscal year. The economic scheme would help in slackening drop out of SC/ST girls at secondary and higher secondary stages. Also the additional funds would be allotted for the girls in some specified regions such as naxal affected regions.
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