A recent order by the Social Justice Department saying there are no backlog posts for persons with disabilities in government departments between 1996 and 2017 has incurred the wrath of organisations representing differently-abled persons.
K.N. Anand, State vice president, Differently abled Employees Association, said on Wednesday that the order was based on a report of an expert committee of retired government officials which claimed that 3% reservation was followed in all appointments made between the above years. He pointed out that the order had violated a Supreme Court directive.
“The Supreme Court on October 8, 2013, had sought a report in three months on vacancies in government departments for implementing 3% reservation for differently abled persons as mandated by the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. All vacancies from February 2, 1996, the date of the enactment of the legislation, were asked to be reported. The order followed a petition filed by the National Federation for the Blind,” he said.
Mr. Anand alleged that the Kerala government did not act on the order till 2017. A Government Order was issued in the same year after many petitions were filed before the Kerala High Court. A panel consisting of retired IAS officials M. Gireesh Kumar, S. Suresh Chandran, K. Bahuleyan Nair, and S. Vijaya Mohan was appointed by the Social Justice Department to formulate modalities for the implementation of reservation. The report was submitted on December 27, 2018. It was made available in the public domain for people to express their views on May 27, 2019. The last date to express views was June 10. The report was published only in English language, and details were not made available in the Malayalam media.
Mr. Anand alleged that the constitution of the committee itself had drawn flak on various counts, such as how the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities was excluded from it. Its terms of reference too were objected to. Also, data on appointments from the Kerala Public Service Commission, public sector units, and autonomous institutions reveal that the figures given by the committee on backlog vacancies are incorrect, he claimed. He pointed out that the Government Order would adversely affect the prospects of differently abled job aspirants who have been shortlisted for government jobs, as they would not be considered any more.
