The recent Supreme Court decision upholding the legislation providing reservation in promotion will not only restore demoted employees belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities to their previous level of seniority, but will also pave the way for promotions across all categories in government departments.
For, in August 2018, after complaints of misinterpretation of the law in providing seniority and subsequent promotions, the State government stopped promotions across departments. The result, a Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms official said, was that several thousands of promotions due to employees were withheld awaiting the Supreme Court’s final order.
Last Friday, the apex court upheld the Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation (To the Posts in the Civil Services of the State) Act, 2017.
“Regular promotions that were withheld since August 2018 can be taken up as per the rules after the government order effecting the Act and the Supreme Court direction is issued. Departments, through the department promotion committee, will take up the matter,” the official said. While the government had stopped promotions, in several departments officials with seniority were given temporary charge under Rule 32. "“They can be regularised only after the GO is issued,” a source said.
According to D. Chandrashekaraiah, legal adviser to the State Government SC/ST Employees’ Committee, the bar on promotions last August affected several thousand employees in all categories. “A couple of thousands retired even without getting the promotion that was due.”
GO awaited
A Government Order revising the demotions of nearly 3,800 employees belonging to SC and ST communities is expected within the next couple of days. “We have sent detailed guidelines to the Chief Secretary’s office, to be incorporated into the GO, on how the whole process is to be initiated. We are expecting the GO within the next two days,” said a senior DPAR official.