Discussion during Zero Hour
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 29 Feb: Mamata Rakesh of Congress today accused the government of trying to end reservations in government jobs. Leader of the Opposition, Yashpal Arya and other members of the Congress also spoke in the House in support of this allegation. The issue was raised on admissibility under Rule 58 by Mamta Rakesh. Arya also claimed that though the constitution provides strict rules and provisions regarding reservations for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC candidates in government jobs, the government is reducing the quota fixed under the rules for reservations under various categories. Arya and Mamta Rakesh quoted certain advertisements published recently for recruitments by various departments and claimed that the vacancies did not provide for reservations in the ratio prescribed under the rules. Arya said that, as per the rules, there should be 15 percent reservation for SC, 7.5 percent for ST, 27 percent for OBCs and 10 percent for Economically Weaker Sections. However, the advertisements did not reflect the equivalent ratio of the reservations and that the worst affected were the OBCs.
Responding to the allegations, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal denied all these allegations and asserted that there was no such attempt to reduce reservations. He said that posts are advertised strictly according to the rosters maintained and updated by the departments. However, he clarified that perhaps the Congress members were forgetting that the reservations are applicable strictly on the basis of the total number sanctioned and not on the basis of vacancies. Aggarwal also challenged the opposition members to come up with any specific data in support of their allegations and he would take action against the guilty for any violation of the rules.
Speaking on admissibility under Rule 58, BSP MLA Mohammad Shehzad demanded that a plan to waive electricity surcharge for the farmers and small consumers should be implemented. He claimed that the Power Corporation was exploiting small consumers and farmers by applying very high surcharge as compared to the original bill amount and, for the sake of justice, the surcharge must be waived so that the farmers and smaller consumers can pay off the bills. He also claimed that several industrial units and furnace owners are stealing power but no action is being taken against them, while the poor and smaller consumers are being harassed. In response, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal said that already private tube wells are being provided to farmers and electricity is being provided to small domestic consumers at concessional rates. For the UPCL, each unit cost over Rs 6.70, but the rural and smaller consumers and for the tubewell owners are being charged at much lower rates. He also pointed out that no scheme for surcharge waiver is currently proposed. The Regulatory Commission decides electricity rates every year after public hearings.
In response to the issue raised by some members including Mamta Rakesh about teachers appointed for Cluster Resource Centre and Block Resource Centre through outsourcing. Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat said that this is a centrally sponsored scheme and, as per the central rules, appointments have to be made through outsourcing. In response to another concern raised by members, Dhan Singh shared that under the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, it has been made clear that services of teachers will be utilised solely for teaching and academic activities and not for census, or election related or survey related duties. The NEP provides for complete end to other kind of duties of all the teachers by 2027.
Earlier, raising the issue of honorarium to Aanganwadi workers under Rule 300 (Call Attention Motion), BJP’s Shakti Lal Shah and the members of the Opposition demanded hiking of the honorarium for Aanganwadi workers. To this, Aggarwal responded that the state government was adding its own contribution above the funds received from the Centre under ICDS scheme and that, from time to time, the honorarium is raised.
