New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday (September 4, 2012) at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has cleared a proposal to amend the constitution to allow reservations in job promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The amendment will now enable state governments to provide reservation for promotion in jobs to SCs and STs . The proposal will now be sent to a parliamentary committee for review, before being put to a vote.
The Cabinet nod clears the decks for introduction of a Constitution Amendment Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament, which has been a long-standing demand of all parties, barring the Samajwati Party. Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party has vowed to oppose the bill, which the government hopes to introduce in Parliament before the current session ends this week.
Most political parties had favoured a legally sustainable legislation in the backdrop of the Supreme Court order. To be passed this bill will need a two-thirds majority in House as it seeks to amend the constitution. Cobbling that together seems a tough task as Parliament has not been functioning because of daily disruptions by the BJP, which is demanding the PM's resignation in connection with a coal scandal. The bill might well be pushed to the Winter Session.
Attorney General GE Vahanvati has warned the government that any law on the reservations issue should be framed with extreme caution because it is likely to be legally challenged. Amending the constitution has become necessary after the Supreme Court in April nullified the decision of Mayawati, who was then Uttar Pradesh chief minister, to provide reservation for SC/STs in promotion to higher posts in government departments.
