Skip to main content

Gujarat govt's 'political move' to appoint lokrakshak constables: HC seeks report

By Our Representative
The Gujarat High Court has issued notice to the state government regarding alleged refusal to appoint Class-III lokrakshak unarmed police constables, armed police constables and jail sepais in pursuant of advertisement by the Lokrakshak Bharti Board dated August 15, 2018 taking into account the meritorious criterion.
Justice AC Rao issued the notice after hearing senior High Court advocate Anand Yagnik, who appeared in the court on behalf the aggrieved candidates. The matter is now listed for October 6 for further hearing.
The petition, which concerned appointment of male candidates, sought “quashing” and “setting aside” of the entire recruitment process, undertaking the process of recruitment afresh, said, his clients were meritorious and yet they were denied appointment.
Alleging that the recruitment of more than 12,000 lokrakshaks was carried out by the state government in violation of judgment and order passed by a division bench of the High Court, Yagnik said, more than 5,000 women candidates were appointed after lowering the cut-off marks at the fag end of the recruitment process, that too after final selection list/merit list was published, and only appointment letters were to be issued.
Claiming that the whole process of lowering down the cut-off marks for women candidates was “absolutely illegal and unconstitutional”, he said, as many as 2,485 supernumerary posts were created only for women candidates. These posts, he added, were filled up with women candidates by adopting the policy of what is called reverse discrimination.
Calling the recruitment process and the appointments were illegal and unconstitutional, because 100% supernumerary posts were allocated to women candidates in violation of the 33% reservation for women, Yagnik said, this was done in order to “accommodate” as many general category candidates from upper castes as possible.
He said, supernumerary posts are created by way of an exception in order to meet with exigencies and not otherwise, adding, these cannot be created on such a large scale by changing rules of the game by sacrificing merit. 

'Political move'

The petition alleges that the state government changed the criterion of recruitment against the backdrop of agitations that broke out between December 2019 to February 2020 among the candidates who had applied for the post of lokrakshaks. It got intensified in January-February, with women candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC questioning manner and method of implementation of 33% for women in the state employment.
Alongside, said the petition, candidates coming from upper caste “threw their hat in the spat of agitation”, with hundreds and thousands started getting together at Gandhinagar with rival claims, which was happening ahead of the visit by US president Donald Trump in Ahmedabad on February 24, for which preparations had begun in January 2020.
Agitation in Gandhinagar
According to petition, if the agitation had continued, attention of the world media would have been diverted from the Trump event, pointing towards unemployed youth, particularly women, seeking state employment by way of agitation. It would have created “a difficult and embarrassing situation” as violation of reservation for backward class and deprivation of state employment to women coming from backward classes would have got media attraction.
It is against backdrop, said the petition, that compelled the state government to take into account the caste dynamics to resolve the matter at the earliest in a manner that satisfied everybody.
“The political balance between upper caste and backward class for party in power became a sutra to be followed even at the cost of violating the judgment and order passed by the Supreme Court and the High Court of Gujarat”, alleged the petition.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.