Cong MP asks Punjab CM to ensure quota to Mazhabi Sikhs, Balmikis
Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Nov, 2021 09:16 AM
New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari has shot a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to ensure reservation to Mazhabi Sikhs & Balmikis.
In a three page letter written on November 8, Tewari said, "I am requesting Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to kindly ensure 50 per cent reservation granted to Mazhabi Sikhs & Balmikis out of 22.5 per cent way back in 1975, is upheld when matter comes up before a 7 or 9-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court when constituted shortly."
The matter pertains to a Punjab government circular of 1975 which says 50 per cent reservation will be granted to Mazhabi Sikhs & Balmikis out of 22.5 per cent in the reserved category of the SC.
The circular was struck down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2006 and an SLP was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2008. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court in the larger bench.
The Congress MP wants that the matter be taken seriously as Channi is himself from the Scheduled caste. The state has highest population of the Scheduled Caste in the country. But Tewari raising the issue has political ramification ahead of the Punjab elections, where the Congress is eyeing Dalit votes.
Congress MP from the state has been critical of the new Chief Minister on the BSF issue and removal of Advocate General of the state.
Manish Tewari on Friday had asked the state government to move the Supreme court.
Responding to Akali Dal's allegation that he supported the notification, the Congress leader said: "My advice to the Punjab government has always been to file an original suit under Article 131 in the Supreme Court to get the order quashed."
Last week, Tewari had targeted his own government saying: "It has been close to a month now when Central Govt by notification extended BSF operational remit in Punjab to 50 km. Why till now notification has not been challenged by the Punjab Govt under Article 131 in the Supreme Court of India? Is opposition to it mere tokenism?"
Calling the Congress as the only party who protested against these 'black' laws from the very first day, the Chief Minister said his government called an all-party meeting and then held consultations with farm unions.
The highly specialised medical services to be rolled out across the state by end November will prove to be a boon for people, especially the poor for whom expert private sector medical care is out of reach, he said.
The Minister while addressing the inaugural session of 'Connect Karo 2021 - Towards Equitable, Sustainable Indian Cities' event, said that there can be no doubt that India's cities "enabled by citizen-centric infrastructure and transformational technology" will be the key to achieving the nation's development objectives.
Meanwhile, India logged 27,254 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The country also reported 219 Covid deaths in the same time span. The country presently has nearly 3.75 lakh active cases.
At a virtual Covid-19 review meeting, the Chief Minister said vaccine effectiveness is evident from the data being analysed. Special efforts were made to reach out to the government employees, and those who continue to avoid getting vaccinated will now be asked to go on leave till they get the first dose.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said with the case load decreasing, people had started being lax about wearing masks, which the Health Department should strictly enforce with the help of the police.
