GO No 29 denies reservations to SC, ST, OBC and Divyang candidates: Dr K Laxman

Hyderabad: BJP OBC Morcha National President Dr. K. Laxman condemned the police lathi-charge on Group-I aspirants and stated that it reflects the anti-student and unemployed attitude of the Congress-led state government.

On Friday, he demanded the scrapping of GO No. 29, terming it against the spirit of the Constitution. He explained that the GO is not in line with reservation policies, as it establishes a fixed criteria in a 1:150 ratio for those who cleared the Group-I preliminary examination to qualify for the Group-I final. Additionally, he pointed out that the state government did not implement reservations in the Group-I preliminary examination, resulting in 31,382 candidates qualifying as general category for 563 vacant posts. This situation is detrimental to students from reservation categories, he said.

Dr Laxman elaborated that generally, 50 BC candidates should be called for every one BC vacant position. Therefore, for 100 BC reservation positions, 5,000 BC candidates should be invited against the BC quota job vacancies. This approach helps ensure that more BC candidates become eligible for the Group-I mains. However, he noted that GO No. 29 violates these norms, which adversely affects the interests of BC reserved candidates. He added that apart from OBCs, this GO is also detrimental to reserved candidates belonging to SC, ST, EWS, and physically challenged categories. He criticized the state government for pitting differently-abled individuals against general candidates, which undermines job opportunities for the disabled.

Dr Laxman stated that the Congress government's decision is denying equal justice, with each category facing different ratios to compete for the Group-I posts. For instance, if 40 candidates qualify for one BC vacant post, there will be 30 for the SC category and 20 for the ST category candidates. He emphasized that this is a clear case of denying the benefits of reservations to candidates of their respective categories.

Dr Laxman accused the state government of trying to create controversies over the Group-I appointments to push the matter into courts, thereby postponing the appointments.