Bias against backward class officers in Parliament

New Delhi: The chairman of the Parliament Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has complained to Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar that Dalit officers declared fit for promotion by the departmental promotion committee (DPC) are being superseded, in flagrant violation of the rules and Supreme Court judgments.

Gobind Chandra Naskar, in his April 17 communiqué to Meira Kumar, herself a Dalit leader, requested her personal intervention to “restore legitimate seniority of the scheduled caste (SC) officer who has been superseded recently for no flaw or deficiency on his part in view of the DoPT guidelines and law as declared by the Supreme Court in its judgment”.

Though the letter does not mention the name of the officers, it is learnt that Legislative and Executive Service cadre officer D R Shekar was superseded by interpretation service officer Suman Arora to become director, despite the fact that he had become eligible in March 2011 and she in December 2012.  She was promoted in the same month she became eligible, a few days before Shekar’s order was issued, said parliament sources.

“There is deep disaffection and discontent in the entire section of officers servicing Parliament and the Committees, as the delay in the promotion of the SC officer was intentional so that he is superseded, promoting out of turn a much junior officer of a supporting service. Since the newly-invested rule provides that one who is promoted first as director will be considered senior for promotion to the post of joint secretary, the promotion of the SC officer was delayed intentionally despite the recommendation of the DPC, whereas the post, which fell subsequently in some other service, was filled up prior to the promotion of the SC officer,” wrote Naskar.

Source: Deccan Herald