Why in News ?
Madhya Pradesh government’s decision to give government jobs only to children of the state but not given details of the proposal.
Constitutional Validity
Article 16 says Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
Article 16 (1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State
Article 16 (2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the State
Constitution specifically prohibits discrimination based on place of birth and the decision is not constitutionally valid. It violates constitutional guarantees made to citizens against discrimination.
Various Verdict
Allahabad High Court 2019 : Struck down a recruitment notification issued by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Service Selection Commission, which prescribed preference for women who were original residents of the state.
Supreme Court 2002 : Rejected the appointment of government teachers in Rajasthan, where the state selection board gave preference to applicants belonging to the district or the rural areas of the district concerned.
K.C. Vasanth Kumar v. State of Karnataka 1985 : Supreme Court has suggested that the reservations in favour of backward classes must be based on the mean test. The policy of reservations should be reviewed every five years or so and if a class has reached up to that level where it does not need the reservation. Its name should be deleted from the list of backward classes.
States barring Employment
- Maharashtra : only those living in the state for over 15 years with fluency in Marathi are eligible.
- Jammu and Kashmir : Government jobs are reserved for “domiciles
- Uttarakhand : Recruits residents of the state in some posts.
- West Bengal : Reading and writing skills in Bengali is a criterion in recruitment to some posts.
What can be done ?
The move for such reservation is against the constitution. Even the reservation provided to many classes should be reviewed every five years and if the classes reached a level that they does not need reservation it should be removed.
Source : Indian Express
Topic : GS II:- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.