Appoint category welfare body chief, demands panel

Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 28

A delegation of Joint Action Committee General categories, Punjab, met Baljeet Kaur, Cabinet Minister, at Patiala and submitted a memorandum seeking an early appointment of Chairman Category Welfare Commission and supporting staff for the smooth functioning of the commission.

The commission has been constituted to look after the interests of the general category.

The delegation was led by Jaswant Singh Dhaliwal, chairman, Kuljeet Singh Ratol, president, and Sukhpreet Singh, secretary general.

They also requested her to not implement the 85th amendment in the state and to stop reservation benefits to the creamy layer amongst SC/ST employees.

“It is pertinent to mention here that the notification of December 15, 2005, to implement the 85th amendment has already been quashed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court due to non-compliance of conditions imposed by the Supreme Court,” VK Gupta, spokesperson for the federation, said.

He said the conditions imposed by the Supreme Court have not yet been complied with by the Punjab Government.

The federation further demanded to collect data on the strength of SC/ST employees in services, collection of data should be cadre-wise and not according to roster point.

The minister assured the delegation that necessary action would be taken.