The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its judgment in a batch of petitions seeking firm guidelines and basis for granting reservation in promotions for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates in government jobs
A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao heard Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submit that 75 years of Independence had not been able to bring members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on par with the forward classes of society. Mr. Venugopal reiterated that it was still tough for a member of the SC/ST to reach the 'Group A' category jobs.
In the previous hearing, the Bench itself had referred to records filed before it to note that there was low representation of SC/ST category in group A jobs.
Instead of improving the situation in the group A ranks, the court had said, efforts were on to ensure adequate representation in groups B and C.
“We are finding that in group A, the representation is low. Therefore, by accommodating, instead of improving the representation in group A, you are ensuring that there is adequate representation in group B and C. This is not fair. This is the argument of the government,” the Bench had observed.
Mr. Venugopal agreed that it was a “fact of life”.
"We are not being able, after 75 years, to bring the SCs and STs to the same level of merit as the forward classes... It is more difficult for the SCs and STs to get the higher post, which is in A and B.” he had submitted.
