Amid strong protests, the Assam government decided to cut down on its reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in state government jobs during the ongoing session of the Assam Legislative Assembly.
The state government has decided to do away with the 10 per cent reservation for EWS category in state government jobs, drawing flak from the opposition.
It may be noted that this decision of the government is against the verdict of the Supreme Court of India.
Moreover, this will also mean a trackback of the decision taken in this regard during the Sarbananda Sonowal led government in Assam.
Meanwhile, the decision of the Himanta Biswa Sarma led current government in the state will be implemented with immediate effect.
However, it will not affect the recruitment advertisements that have already been published, reports mentioned.
Following the decision of the government, several opposition leaders have come out criticizing it. Several sections have termed it a cost cutting measure and called it the government’s mismanagement of funds with financial distress in sight.
The opposition also said that the government is trying to prevent a looming financial crisis amid extravagant expenditure of the government in Assam on construction projects worth thousands of crores.
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Aminul Islam called the decision a ploy of the government to shun away from its promise of providing one lakh employment opportunities.
Islam said, “The matter will undoubtedly go the court which will put a hold on the recruitment. This is a ploy of the government to steer clear of its promise of providing employment. The government will now take the narrative that it wanted to provide jobs but was stopped by the court.”
“The government should not take this step. This will be a huge setback to the economically weaker sections and the government should work towards their upliftment and not against it,” he added.
Adding to it, the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said, “We took note of a circular in today’s newspaper from the Assam government which mentioned the abolishment of reservation for EWS category. There cannot be a worse situation than this and at a time when the government itself admitted that a lot of people fall under the below poverty line. The government had earlier increased the number of beneficiaries of its financial assistance and food security schemes in this regard highlighting the number of people who fall under economically weaker section.”
He went on, “Upliftment in true sense will only take place when you provide employment to these people and not through the several welfare schemes. During the Sarbananda Sonowal government, it was announced that 25 lakh jobs will be provided. Then our current CM said that 1 lakh jobs will be given in the first year, which even after the completion of his government’s one year in power, has not happened. This is a very sad news for those falling under EWS category.”
Furthermore, Raijor Dal chief and MLA from Assam’s Sivasagar Akhil Gogoi lent in his views on the matter. He said, “One of the main agendas of the BJP government was to work towards the betterment of the economically weaker sections in terms of welfare schemes and reservations in jobs and other such places. However, it is unfortunate that the BJP government in Assam has taken away all the facilities given to the poor people. This means that the BJP has not honoured their own promise.”
“The BJP never wanted to look after the wellbeing of the poor. Their help comes with a filter of religion. BJP only looks for which religion to assist and which religion to oppress. They are a communal party and will never look after the people. During the time of elections, they will come forward with several such promises and in other times, they will oppress the poor. I can guarantee you that the Himanta Biswa Sarma government can never fulfill its promise of 1 lakh jobs,” Gogoi added.
