Orissa Government Fooling Dalits

The Orissa government has been continuously flouting the constitutional mandate on reservations to SC/STs and the Dalits in the State government service are desperate and do not know what to do. Though job reservation to SC/STs is given lots of publicity in the press but in practice nothing tangible is happening. Harijan Welfare department officers in charge of implementing the reservations are themselves responsible for this serious constitutional lapse. Although the Minister in charge of the department of Harijan Welfare is from an ST he is helpless. The government has filled up 29 vacancies of superintending engineers (civil) by promoting executive engineers under the Irrigation and Power Dept. In all these, the claims of the SC/STs have been simply ignored. The government has prescribed 15 and  23 percent reservation for SCs and STs – the orders were published in the Gazette. By this the reserved quota in promotional posts of the SEs (civil) in this department comes to 10. There is only one ST executive engineer who staked his claim to the promotional quota of one post of SE but his rightful claim was also brushed aside. In the government services anti-SC/ST feeling is running high among caste Hindu officers. The law is interpreted in such a way that SC/STs do not get any reservation. So much so the Orissa Dalit officials are living under a state of deep frustration. Insults, discrimination have become a daily feature of our life.