CRPF to appoint over-age constables, thanks to Govt folly

The world’s largest paramilitary force, Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF), has a problem at hand. On the direction of the Supreme Court, it has to appoint a set of over-age constables, provided they are found medically fit.

It is one of those unique situations that can ever face a disciplined force but the facts of the case suggest that the Centre itself is to blame for the order. Way back in 2010, eight candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category applied for the post of constables in CRPF for recruitment in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. They hailed from Uttarakhand and at the time of appointment, the newly formed State did not have a Central List of OBCs of its own.

The then UPA Government intriguingly referred to a private handbook on caste and community compilation to dismiss the claim of the eight persons from claiming OBC quota. They belonged to Saini, Momin (Ansar), Gujjar, and Kahar, all communities included in the Central List of OBCs in Uttar Pradesh, the parent State of Uttarakhand. Referring to the private book became the Centre’s biggest folly.

The constables, who approached the court through advocate Dushyant Parashar showed a resolution passed by the National Commission of Backward Classes (NCBC) in 2010 itself allowing the OBC list of UP to apply for all Central Government vacancies in Uttarakhand till the State gets its own list. The Commission even issued a letter on July 28, 2011 which said, “The Central List for OBCs for the State of Uttarakhand is under progress. Till it is finalised, the list for UP will be applicable for appointment to Central posts in the State of Uttarakhand.” The OBC List for Uttarakhand came by December 8, 2011.

For overlooking the Central OBC list of UP and the resolution of NCBC, another wing of the Union Government, the apex court decided to do justice to the five constable aspirants and restored their lost chance to serve in the CRPF. The Bench of Justices Sharad Arvind Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said, “We direct the appellants (Union of India/CRPF) to consider the respondents (Kamal Kishore and others) for appointment as constables, CRPF in the posts reserved for OBCs in the advertisement dated July 24, 2010. The appellants (Union/CRPF) are directed not to deny the appointment to the respondents on the ground that they are now over-aged provided they fulfil the condition of fitness.”

The court was aghast at the Centre for basing its decision on a private book - Swamy’s Compilation on Reservations and Concessions” and instead, overlooking the authoritative resolution of NCBC and the Central Lists prepared by the Government for denying a citizen’s constitutional rights. Interestingly, the Central List prepared for Uttarakhand in 2011 included the four communities to which these constable aspirants belonged.