Dehradun: Nearly a month-and-a-half after the Supreme Court ruled that “there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions”, Uttarakhand government on Wednesday ended reservation in promotion. The order was issued by state chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh.
Delighted with the announcement, the state government employees belonging to General and OBC communities ended their stir demanding removal of quota in promotions and restarting merit-based promotions. Celebrations broke out at Parade Ground, where the OBC and General category employees were sitting on protest for several weeks. The jubilant employees played with colours and raised slogans.
“We are calling off the strike for now as the state government has agreed to our demands. However, if state government retracts on its decision or harasses any employee, the union will not hesitate in restarting the protest,” said Deepak Joshi, president of OBC-General Employees Union. Since March 2, the body has been holding protests to press the government to comply with SC direction and restart departmental promotions. The strike had been impacting work at the secretariat and other government offices across the state. Medical professionals, however, stayed away from the strike.
Following the order, the departmental promotions now will be held on the basis of a 2012 government order. Joshi added that during a meeting with chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, it was agreed that the last 15 days during which the employees were on strike will be put as special leave in official records and there would be no harassment of employees.
