Resolution for SC, ST quota in GTA jobs - Reservation also in hill body’s elections

Roshan Giri in Darjeeling on Sunday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, July 14: The GTA Sabha has passed a resolution in favour of reserving 22 per cent for Scheduled Castes and 6 per cent for Scheduled Tribes in GTA jobs.

The executive Sabha of the GTA, which passed the resolution yesterday, has also decided to follow reservations in the GTA elections that would reflect the 33.72 per cent presence of STs and the 9.82 per cent of SCs in the hills.

The moves are being seen as a way to woo SCs who had spoken out against the lack of reservations for teachers’ jobs in the hills.

The hills also have a sizeable tribal population. Among them are Lepchas, whom Trinamul tried to woo after the state set up a Lepcha development board.

Roshan Giri, an executive member of the GTA, used the word “reservation” yesterday while talking about the hill election system but did not specify the quota percentage for SCs and STs. “The GTA has passed a resolution to provide seat reservations to SC and ST communities in the next GTA elections,” Giri, a senior Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader, said.

About GTA job recruitments, he said: “The Sabha had also decided to maintain a 100-point roster system in all future appointments made by the GTA.” According to the 100-point roster system, 22 per cent of jobs have to be reserved for SCs and 6 per cent have to be set aside for STs. Members of Other Backward Classes enjoy a reservation of 27 per cent.

Giri said the GTA Act would have to be amended to reserve seats in the hill body, which means the resolution would require the state government’s sanction.

The GTA has 45 elected members and five nominated ones. None of seats is reserved.

The resolution was adopted at a meeting of the executive body here yesterday.

The SC community had criticised the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for denying them their constitutional rights while appointing 575 primary school teachers recently. SC leaders had said 127 candidates from the community needed to be appointed as the teachers, but only 80 had been given jobs. They had threatened to approach the National Commission on Schedule Castes with the matter.

The SC leaders couldn’t be contacted today for a reaction on the Gta’s resolution.

Observers believe the GTA’s decision to pass a resolution on reservations in the hill body’s seats as well as jobs was the fallout of the SC community’s protest.

“This is a move aimed at wooing the SC community. Moreover, the Morcha would be on the back foot if they (the SC community) approach court or the National Commission for Schedule Castes against the GTA for not following quota in teachers’ recruitment,” said an observer.

The SC community, led by Kamasingh Ramudamu, were among the first to support the Morcha in 2007 as the Sixth Schedule demand raised by GNLF leader Subash Ghisingh did not have any provision for reserving seats for the SCs.

But for STs, there was a provision to reserve 10 of the 28 elected seats of the council proposed to be created under the Sixth Schedule.

Ramudamu was made the vice-president of the Morcha, a post he held till he died in 2009.

Many also believe the GTA decided to seek the seat reservation to curry favour with the Lepchas, who belong to the ST community.

Earlier this year, the GTA and the state government were at loggerheads over the formation fo a Lepcha development board. The Morcha wanted a Lecha development board under the GTA, but the state government, after talks with Lepcha leaders, set it up in February under the state government’s backward classes welfare department.

The GTA executive body also passed a resolution to demand ST status for 10 Gorkha communities. “The 10 Gorkha communities are Rai, Gurung, Sunwar-Mukhia, Khas-Hitkari, Bhujel, Newar, Dewan, Mangar, Thami and Jogi. The Centre and state had agreed to pursue the demand in the memorandum of agreement,” Giri said.