the goan I network
PANAJI
The State government is in the process of compiling data on the backlog of posts which should have otherwise been filled with candidates hailing from the three Scheduled Tribe communities of Goa -- Gauda, Kunbhi and Velip -- in as many as 24 departments.
Alarmed by the backlog, which initial estimates indicate is in the region of 2000 across government departments, Tribal Welfare Minister, Govind Gaude, has called for the data.
Gaude said, the figure tops the 2000 mark according to preliminary estimates and the process to clear the backlog he admitted could take up to another five to ten years.
The Gauda, Kunbhi and Velip communities were notified as Scheduled Tribes some 15 years ago and their representatives allege that the principle of reservation proportionate to population ratio was never followed
since then.
Gaude, meanwhile, said he has now taken the initiative to cover the backlog of reserved jobs in the Art and Culture Department of which he is in charge. He said in Kala Academy too, a semi-government autonomous institution, the backlog will be covered as soon as possible.
The issue came to the fore after a recent advertisement for government recruitment failed to reserve any posts for the Scheduled Caste communities and was challenged before the Bombay High Court at Goa.
According to Gaude, the maximum backlog is in the Education Department where teaching and non-teaching positions in government schools, colleges as well as in aided educational institutions have gone unreserved or unfilled with members of these three communities as per the quota mandated by the Constitution.
The Goa police department, however, has filled positions with significant reservations for the Scheduled Tribe communities.
Sources in the administration admit that several departments are not prompt in maintaining the rosters which is a statutory requirement and the root cause for government recruitment processes ignoring the Constitutional mandate for Scheduled Tribe quotas.
