Shrikant Asthana
Lucknow: Congress party has strongly condemned the BJP for its government in Uttarakhand taking stand against reservations in a litigation at the Nainital High Court in which the Court decided that reservation in appointments in public offices and promotions was not a fundamental right and state government was not constitutionally obliged to give reservation in such cases.
The party on Sunday organized a protest march and dharna against the court verdict and the BJP from Parivartan Chowk to Ambedkar statue in Hazratganj Park where speakers said, BJP governments at the Centre and states are regularly attacking the constitutional spirit of social justice and reservations. UPCC president Ajay Kuamr Lalloo said, the BJP government had last year attempted to make changes in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. That had sparked off save reservations movement across the country but the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments were trying their best to end the provision of reservation in promotions which will hurt lakhs of candidates in these two states, he added. Lalloo also accused the UP government of regularly subverting the reservation provisions in appointments that has resulted in 90 per cent reduction in number of Dalit and backward government employees. They are also not squaring up the backlog, he added.
Lalloo and other leaders including PL Punia, Zuber Khan, Brajlal Khabri, and Pradeep Narwal etc avowed that the Congress would run movement to defend the rights of Dalits, backwards and the tribals.
Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also expressed deep concern over Court verdict on reservation in promotions and demanded the Central government to include reservations in ninth schedule of the constitution to secure it. She also accused the Congress and the BJP of ignoring the issue that has resulted in failure in constitution provisions to bring the oppressed and persecuted classes into the mainstream.
The former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said, “Negative attitude of central governments has ensured that the provision of reservation in promotions remains unimplemented and ineffective.” Attacking the present government, she said after Congress governments, even the Modi government has been continuously ignoring the issue to subvert the constitutional provision to bring social parity and equality. It has been hurting the deprived classes, she said and added that only circumstances created by central governments have led the court to pronounce a verdict that undoes the provision of reservation in promotions.
In her tweet on Sunday, she demanded the central government to induct the provision of reservations in ninth schedule of the constitution to ensure that it is not disturbed till the deprived and oppressed classes of the society become a part of the mainstream as envisaged in the constitution.
