Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe has recommended the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes to immediately conduct a second attempt examination of commercial tax officers, assistant commercial tax officers and commercial tax inspectors to fill the backlog of vacancies reserved for ST communities.
The Commission has also recommended that the necessary amendment be carried out to the Recruitment Rules notified under Notification dated April 24, 2018 by inclusion of second attempt examination to fill the backlog vacancies reserved for ST category and also by providing the relaxation and concession in passing marks for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes category for the said examination.
GAKUVED Federation president Adv Suresh Palkar had filed a complaint on behalf of employees belonging to ST community working in the Commercial Tax Department, seeking direction to the Department to make concerted effort to fill up the backlog reserved vacancies of commercial tax officers, assistant commercial tax officers and commercial tax inspector and UDC as soon as possible from the eligible candidates of STs only.
Adv Palkar further sought direction to the Directorate of Social Welfare not to approve de-reservation of backlog vacancies or filling of backlog vacancies that exist in the Commercial Tax Department on ad-hoc or officiating basis from the general category.
Adv Palkar complained that though employees belonging to ST community are given training on the syllabus for the said examination, no exams are held till date from the date of completion of their training. Thus they were deprived of promotion to the said posts, and as a result there was a backlog of 9-10 posts in the said category.
In its reply, the Commercial Tax Department stated that it was the sole prerogative of the government or the commissioner to decide on the date for the conduct of the departmental examination. The department had made concerted efforts to fill up the backlog of posts and had not proceeded with any promotions without due consideration to constitutional principles of reservation and by maintaining the necessary backlog of the reserved posts.
The Director of Social Welfare stated that it had no authority to approve de-reservation of backlog vacancies or filling vacancies that exist in the department on ad-hoc or officiating basis from general category.
The Commission chairperson Deepak Karmalkar observed that no second attempt examination for ST category was conducted in spite of the instruction and having nine backlog vacancies before conducting the DPC on August 27 last year was in violation of the Office Memorandum dated July 15, 2008. It further observed that relaxation of lowering marks for passing the qualified examination was permissible for SC and ST candidates.