Deadline fixed for implementation of quota for disabled in promotion – Supreme Court
Recently, the Supreme Court has ordered the Central Government to issue directions to implement reservation in promotion for differently-abled persons within 4 months.
- The Supreme Court has ordered that directions should be issued as per Section 8 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Act, 2016. This section stipulates a minimum of 4 percent reservation for persons with disabilities.
- According to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, referred disability means a person who has not less than forty per cent of the specified disability as certified by the Certifying Authority.
- 21 types of disabilities have been included under this Act.
- Earlier, the Supreme Court in its January 2020 judgment in Siddaraju v. State of Karnataka had affirmed that persons with disabilities have the right to reservation not only in appointments but also in promotions. But, the central government did not implement it.
- The Central Government had sought clarification regarding the calculation of vacancies.
- The government argued that there is a contradiction between two Supreme Court judgments: Union of India v. National Federation of the Blind case, and Rajiv Kumar Gupta v. Union of India case.
- Earlier, the Supreme Court had held that a person with disability can avail the benefit of reservation in promotion even if he has been appointed in the regular category and becomes disabled after the appointment.
In the National Federation of the Blind case: The Supreme Court had held that the reservation for Persons with Disabilities would be calculated by computing the reservation on the total number of vacancies in the cadre strength in case of Group A, B, C and D posts (i.e. both identified and unmarked posts).
In Rajiv Kumar Gupta case: The Supreme Court had directed the government to provide reservation to the differently-abled in all the identified posts in Group A and B.
Source – The Hindu
