Team Herald
PANJIM: The Congress has urged President of India Ram Nath Kovind with a demand that Centre government should take steps to enact a law granting job security and reservation for Schedule Tribes (ST), Schedule Caste (SC), Other Backward Class (OBC) and Dalits.
In a letter to President of India, addressed through Governor of Goa Satya Pal Malik, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) have said that reservation is a policy toll that promotes equality rather than undermines it.
“When people from all social groups are represented in government, higher education and in business, it is less likely that traditionally marginalised groups will continue to be denied fundamental rights and access to their fair share of society’s resources,” the letter signed by GPCC president Girish Chodankar and CLP leader Digambar Kamat reads.
The letter was addressed in the wake of Supreme Court judgment of February 7, declaring that there is no fundamental right of a member of the ST or SC community to claim reservation benefits while being promoted in government service. The Uttarakhand BJP-led government argued that reservation is neither a fundamental rights nor a constitutional duty.
The Congress, which had launched country-wide agitation against the decision, further said that it is the fundamental and constitutional duty of every government is to ensure protection for SC, ST and OBCs through reservation in government jobs and educational institutions.
It further said that party supports reservation for economic and social empowerment of individuals who come from these backward classes.
“If we are supporting them for getting reservation in a government job, then, we are directly pulling them out of poverty, because they will be able to earn for themselves and feed their family,” the letter said.
“Moreover, it will also enable them to send their children to school, so that they can prosper in coming future,” it stated. “Therefore, it brings out an entire family out of the grip of poverty,” it added.
