Times of India: Chennai: Saturday, December 26, 2015.
More than two
decades after implementation of Mandal commission report, which mandates 27
percent reservation for OBCs in central government jobs, an RTI data shows that
less than 12 percent of employees of central government ministries, departments
and statutory bodies are from other backward classes (OBCs) as on January 1,
2015.
What's more,
40 ministries, including social justice and 48 departments held back the
information sought by Chennai based scientist E Muralidharan under the Right to
Information Act. Among the departments that have not provided any information
is ministry of human resources, which is a major employer of group A employees
like professors in IITs and other central educational institutions.
Going by the
data available, under the group A, B,C and D category of employees, out of
79,483 posts, there are only 9,040 OBC staff.
Surprisingly,
data provided by the department of personnel and training, which was the
recipient of the RTI appeal and is responsible for the appointments, itself
fares poorly in this regard, with 12.91 percent Scheduled Castes (SC), 4
percent Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 6.67 percent OBC forming the pool of
employees under the reservation laws. The total number of personnel in the
department is 6,879.
This means
that a significant number of posts which have been allocated for these
communities are yet to be filled, which raises questions on the effective
implementation of the Mandal committee recommendations, Muralidharan said.
A closer look
at the data indicates that there is not a single OBC Grade A officer in the
President's secretariat; less than 9 percent of the 651 Union Public Service
Commission (UPSC) staff is from the OBC category. The higher education
department employs only 5 percent OBC in Grade A officers and 10 percent OBC
staff.
Out of 41
Grade A posts in the department of scientific and industrial research, there is
only one OBC officer.
Muralidharan
has repeatedly filed RTIs every year to check the performance of the central
government in appointments under reserved categories. "The departments are
supposed to release the data, but they have been found wanting," he said.
In the RTI
query, Muralidharan asked what action was initiated against ministries and departments
which did not provide the data. The under-secretary of the department of
personnel and training, Raju Saraswat replied that two reminders were sent to
the departments concerned, but he failed to state if any action was taken.
Muralidharan
said that it was mandatory for the departments and ministries to furnish these
details to DoPT by January 1 every year as per an office memorandum (OM No.
No.43011/10/2002-Estt (Res.), dated December 19, 2003.
He pointed
out that the poor implementation of caste-based reservations would result in
the wedge of inequality increasing. "Reservations should be time-bound and
there must be a regular review of the positions filled," he said.
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