Tripura Tribals on Warpath

Agartala: The Tripura Tribal Employees Association has alleged irregularities in filling up reserved posts for Scheduled Caste and Tribe candidates in several state government departments and public undertaking in Tripura. The association general secretary, N.K. Debbarma, told newsmen that 35,000 ST/SC candidates had been appointed in the Central government establishments under the special recruitment drive to fill in backlog vacancies in 1989, but in Tripura only 53 of such candidates got jobs under the scheme. Against the declared vacancy of 5,529 posts reserved exclusively for ST/SC candidates, the cabinet sub-committee had agreed to fill 1,953. Even those posts which were to be filled by May last year still remained vacant barring the said 53 posts. Particularly departments of public works and panchayat violated the ST/SC reservation rules, he said Times of India, Feb.5)