Buta Singh, Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, has in principle agreed to implement the SC-Certificate rule in Chandigarh. Addressing mediapersons here on Tuesday, he said he would get the rule passed in the Cabinet to bring relief to those belonging to the reserved categories.He added that the Administration had also agreed to the rule, but was awaiting a nod from the Ministry of Home Affairs. “All those who possessed an SC/ST certificate when Chandigarh was made a union territory will be acknowledged by the Administration after this is passed in the Cabinet. As the UT Administration is governed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, it is waiting for an official direction,” he said.“We have held a series of meetings and even discussed the matter in the inter-ministerial meetings. We have also read the Supreme Court rulings. The matter was put forward before the Ministry of Social Justice, which has now referred it to the Law Ministry. In case the Law Ministry takes long to vet the rule, we will take it to the Cabinet and get it approved by the Prime Minister,” he said.He also announced that the Commission would try to get the 85th Amendment implemented in the UT. “We are working on the modalities and shall definitely get the 85th Amendment implemented in UT too, which would enable SC/ST employees to get better promotion avenues, at par with the general category candidates,” he said.The amendment, if implemented, will pave the way for faster promotions of those belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes. This will also facilitate a separate promotion roster for the SC/ST employees, who will be segregated from those belonging to the general category.
