Chandigarh: National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Vijay Sampla met Punjab governor Banwari Lal Purohit on Friday and submitted a report which alleged denial of rights to scheduled castes by the state government.
Sampla said the commission had received numerous complaints regarding the post-matric scholarship scheme, a scheme run by the entral government to educate children from Dalit community.
Sampla said this showed that the scholarship scheme was not reaching and benefiting needy children, he added. Even though the Union government is regularly releasing funds for the scheme, Punjab government has been unable to clear dues of affiliated institutes and colleges, as a result of which the dropout rate of SC students has increased to over two lakh students, said Sampla.
Taking cognizance of these complaints, as per the powers of the court given to the commission by the Constitution, several notices were issued to the Punjab government, but the state government paid no heed to take appropriate action and submit action-taken reports to the commission, he added. The governor assured Sampla of appropriate action.
Sampla added that when he asked the state government to appoint law officers for advocate general office in accordance with the Punjab Schedule Castes and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006, the Punjab government had moved to the Punjab and Haryana high court for challenging its own act. Though the state government later withdrew the petition, they had not yet implemented the law and, he added.
Sampla also added that despite laws made by the central government and orders issued by the Supreme Court, the Punjab government was not implementing the roster system for reservation in the state. He added that during various hearings at the commission, the Punjab government had promised to provide reservations in the promotion of scheduled caste judges working in the district courts, but the government never implemented it.
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