New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Meira Kumar are two faces in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Cabinet that have become identified with caste reservation.
But, when you go through their lists of personal staff, there's not a single SC-ST or OBC assistant in Singh's office and only one assistant private secretary from the Scheduled Tribe in Kumar's office. Pleading for more hiring of backwards, it seems they forgot to recruit some for their own ministerial staff.
This was revealed in an RTI application filed by activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya. "This is an prime example of hypocrisy by the government. The government is making a fool of the public. And the irony is that the ministers who shout the most about reservation does not follow it in their own ministries," says Bhattacharya.
While Kumar is fighting the Prime Minister's Office for reservation in the private sector, Singh's ministry had a one-point agenda this year – ensure caste reservation not just in Central jobs but also in Central universities and colleges, even the IIMs and IITs.
A list of private secretaries and other personal ministerial staff attached to each minister has been prepared by the Government about a month back. The list show that the number of SC appointees is only 12, Other Backward Caste appointees are again 12 and Scheduled Tribes fare even worse with just four ST ministerial staff. However, the general category appointees are a staggering 237.
"There is a saying that charity should begin at home. What is the different between those who practice and those who only preach,” BJP Spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
Bhattacharya's RTI clearly indicates that reservation for certain sections of society is just a political ploy.
Only about nine per cent of the ministry staff in the UPA government come from the backward category. And it possibly just goes to show how serious the Government is about implementing quota for the backward category.
Comments
0 comment