CHENNAI: K. Selvaraj is one among the several Group-C workers at Avadi Heavy vehicles factory. Being differently-abled, he got the job through reservation in the same category but has been in the same position for the past 15 years. “The order is good news for us. There are over 5000 people in the Defence category jobs in Tamil Nadu alone who are working in the same positions since their recruitment,” he added. “We can now draw more pensions too.”
D Ponnuswamy, Director at Anna Institute of Management, is one of those who did not have to struggle to get promoted during his tenure at the institute. “It is good, as earlier there were only reservations in promotions to Group C jobs. This order for Groups A and B will help eliminate discrimination if it is implemented properly,” he said. “This holds well if the number of vacancies is huge. If there is a vacancy for 30-odd positions, reservation for us doesn't help, as the number of reserved posts is 3 percent,” he continued.
“It is a welcome ruling by Supreme Court that would enable the differently-abled to not remain in the position that they were recruited in, but the roster policy for recruitment and census methodologies should also be changed to improve the benefits for them,” said Smitha Sadasivan, Disabilities Rights Association. Activists also felt that lack of proper implementation leads to discrimination and provides no benefits to people with multiple disabilities are marginalized further.
“The number of differently-abled people as per 2011 census was estimated to be around 2.21% of the Indian population,” said P Simmachandra, who is of the activists who say that there are discrepancies in the manner the count is taken as the census 2001 yielded that 2.19% of the population comprise of differently-abled, which shows a marginal increase in the number.
“Social stigma of being identified as disabled person, bottlenecks in availing reservation, ebbing scope for those with multiple disabilities, and discriminatory conditions for certain job positions leads to many posts going unfilled. Also, there are identified jobs for which they can apply, which is another limiting factor for differently-abled to avail reservations which are meant for their benefit,” said B Meenakshi, of Equals.
