HRF urges Andhra Pradesh, Telangana to seek review of SC judgment
HYDERABAD: Taking a strong exception to Supreme Court quashing an order issued by the undivided Andhra Pradesh government, providing 100 per cent reservation to Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates for the posts of teachers in schools in the scheduled areas, the Human Rights Forum (HRF) urged the AP and Telangana governments to seek a review of the Apex Court judgment.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court’s five-judge constitution Bench ruled that 100 per cent ST reservation for teachers in schools at scheduled areas was constitutionally invalid. The HRF Andra Pradesh and Telangana Coordination Committee members, VS Krishna and S Jeevan Kumar in a statement observed that SC’s verdict was “deeply regressive” and “undermines hard-won rights of the Adivasis”.
They said that 100 per cent reservation for STs in the earlier case was reasonable, fair, non-arbitrary, permissible and constitutionally valid. “The 152-page judgment by the Apex Court betrays a basic lack of understanding about the nature and importance of the Fifth Schedule -- described by experts as a ‘Constitution within a Constitution’ -- enshrined in the Constitution. It dilutes, in a fundamental sense, the special status accorded to Adivasis residing in the Fifth Schedule areas,” the HRF statement said.
They said the strong statutory framework that the Constitution bestows upon the Fifth Schedule areas was to preserve tribal autonomy, culture and economic empowerment, and to ensure social, economic and political justice.
Educational development
The objective of the 100 per cent reservation was to strengthen educational infrastructure in the scheduled areas to promote educational development of tribals, they said. An Adivasi teacher familiar with the culture of fellow tribals would be in a better position than a non-tribal counterpart to communicate with the Adivasi parents and children, and would be willing to reside in villages, they added.