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Jaya urges non-interference in quotas for SC/STs

All India Anna DMK general secretary J Jayalalitha today urged the Union government to set right the anomalies with regard to reservation of jobs for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, as several provisions in the five memoranda issued by the previous United Front regime at the Centre violated their hard-fought constitutional rights.

In a statement, she said the five memoranda issued by the United Front regime had conspired to work against the interests of SC/STs.

The SC/STs have been adversely affected with regard to reservations in government jobs, promotional avenues and relaxation of qualifying marks for recruitment, she said, while pointing out that special recruitment drives for government jobs had been discontinued.

Even those SC/ST candidates who had qualified themselves on merit had been relegated to the reserved category, she regretted.

She urged the Union government to seriously examine the issue of bringing in legislation to make reservations for SC/ST non-justiciable.

Stating that the grievances of SC/STs were very genuine, Jayalalitha wanted the Union government to streamline their service conditions in government jobs by formulating a definite policy of recruitment and absorption as full-time employees, wherever they were working part-time, giving due consideration to the type of jobs they were performing.

She wanted all the benefits extended to the permanent employees to be extended to the part-time SC/ST employees.

Pointing out that large-scale disinvestment was on the anvil with regard to Public Sector Units, she said the misapprehensions in the minds of the SC/STs vis-a-vis job reservations in these units had to be removed.

Stating that the constitutional guarantees given to the deprived classes regarding their fundamental rights could no longer be treated as mere promises, she said the AIADMK was fully committed to the upliftment of SC/STs and ensuring social justice for them.

UNI

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