Reservation for SC/ST to stay: CM Vasundhara Raje

JAIPUR: Chief minister Vasundhara Raje assured that the reservation system is here to stay and it will never end.
“Reservations will neither end nor will we let that happen,’’ said Raje, while addressing the state event held to mark the 127 ^th birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar at Jaipur’s Birla Auditorium on Saturday.



Raje said, “Some people are trying to create a confusion in the minds of the people about reservation but reservation is here and will continue.” She added that the BJP government is dedicated to work for the welfare of the weaker sections and protecting the rights of the SC-ST categories.

The statement came in the backdrop of the widespread violence in the state on April 2 during the Bharat Bandh called against the Supreme Court’s order on SCST Act. Two people had died in the protests while several districts had witnessed violence.

She said Rajasthan is the first state in the country which has announced subsidy to industry for appointing SC/ST employees of bona fide Rajasthanis. She said this employee subsidy was recently raised and if the SC/ST employees are over 15% of the total employees in an industry, they would get an employment subsidy of Rs 85,000 a year for each employee.

The chief minister said, foundations stone for 191 Ambedkar Bhawans have been laid and these Bhawans would act as a community centres for the people while orders for the appointment of 21,136 post safai karmacharis recruitment have been issued.

Lauding the contribution of Dr Ambedkar, she said the architect of the constitution was committed towards ensuring equal rights for all, removing social evils like discrimination and untouchability, and to bring the downtrodden into the mainstream of the society.

Raje said people belonging to the SC/ST now have an adequate representation in government service and political arena. Talking about the welfare schemes for the weaker sections, the chief minister said under the Bhamashah Rozgar Srujan Yoganna, for self-entrepreneurs, the subsidy has been raised from 4% to 8% and also the loan amount has been doubled from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. She said for entrepreneurs belonging to the SC/ST community, the loan amount has been hiked to Rs 25 lakh from Rs 10 lakh.