The politics behind SP’s stand on SC, ST promotion quota

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav owes his emergence in the national political scene to the social justice wave involving reservation for OBCs. Today, he is opposing reservation in government promotions for SCs and STs. In fact, his party has been the sole opponent of this cause, being championed by BSP chief Mayawati.

History

Though SC/STs were entitled to reservation in promotions since 1955, it was discontinued following a famous judgment in what is now called the Indra Sawhney case. It has since been the subject of a tussle between successive regimes in UP.

The state enacted the UP Public Servants (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes) Act in 1994, entitling SC/STs to reservation in promotion in state services. But there was no change to the UP Government Servants Seniority Rules of 1991 that evaluate seniority on the basis of merit.

Mayawati amended the rules in 2002, introducing consequential seniority for those getting promotions under the quota. This was challenged in the High Court; Mulayam's next government cancelled it in 2005.

The next Mayawati regime reintroduced it in 2007. This was challenged in the High Court, which held the changes unconstitutional in 2011. The Mayawati regime approached the Supreme Court, which upheld the High Court verdict last April, soon after the UP elections. In the run-up to the polls, Mulayam had pledged to abolish the consequential seniority provision. When the SP returning to power, the government promulgated an ordinance to amend the Act and nullify the rule change.

lucknow to delhi

Mayawati took her battle to Parliament and forced the government to hold a discussion in May. She later extracted a promise from the government to bring a constitutional amendment to get around the legal difficulties. The SP reiterated its objections to Mayawati's demand during the all-party meeting called by the Prime Minister in August. SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav cited the example of the UP irrigation department , claiming all five chief engineers in the department were from the SCs on account of the consequential seniority policy, while hundreds of senior engineers not from SC communities were languishing at the levels of executive engineer, assistant engineer or superintendent engineer. Though his argument was appreciated by many leaders, none would object to Mayawati's demand.

... contd.

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