-The Hindu More than a political consensus, it is hard data on the absence of marginalised sections from the higher bureaucracy that will give legitimacy to the measure The decision to amend the Constitution to ensure Reservation in promotions for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes has been the subject of much scrutiny without paying sufficient critical attention to the discourse of the Supreme Court on the issue. While the Court...

-The Times of India The HRD ministry has overwhelmingly supported the proposed Bill that seeks to give Reservation to SC/ST employees in promotion. But the scenario in HRD's own backyard is anything but enthusiastic.  Just over 32% of sanctioned teaching posts for SCs and 41.8% for STs in 40 central universities are occupied. This includes premier institutions like the Delhi University, Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, Aligarh Muslim University and University of Hyderabad. Vacancies exist...

-The Times of India If the proposed legislation providing Reservation to SCs and STs in promotion in government jobs gets the mandatory Parliament nod, it will pave the way for filling as many as 16,864 vacancies incentral services. These vacancies were supposed to be filled through promotion to members of SC and ST community, but pendency persisted in the absence of clarity in policy.  Officials in the ministry of personnel believe that...

-The Times of India How are members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes faring in the government hierarchy? At the very top level of the government bureaucracy, out of a total of 149 secretary-level officers, there were no SC officers while there were only 4 ST officers, as of March 2011, according to a reply given by the MoS in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy.  At the next rung of additional...

-The Telegraph Union minister Jairam Ramesh today described the proposed land acquisition bill as the “political agenda” of the Congress and said it would be reintroduced in the winter session of Parliament with no “significant” change. Five ministers had blocked the amended land acquisition bill in the cabinet last week on the ground that its provisions would stall industrialisation and urbanisation. “The land acquisition bill is the political agenda of the Congress Party....