10 percent horizontal reservation for state agitators and their dependents in government jobs may be restored. The government is going to bring an ordinance for this. Its proposal may come in the cabinet on 10 February. The government has constituted a cabinet sub-committee under the chairmanship of Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal to consider horizontal reservation in government jobs for state agitators.
The meeting of the sub-committee was held in the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday, in which the representations of the state agitators were first heard. According to sources, the decision to restore reservation has been taken by the cabinet sub-committee. It has been told that its proposal may come in the upcoming cabinet. In the year 2004, the ND Tiwari government had issued a mandate of ten percent horizontal reservation in jobs to the state agitators.
This mandate was issued considering the agitators as a special category. Its benefit was given in the jobs and state-owned services coming under the purview of the Public Service Commission. Due to this GO, hundreds of agitators took advantage of it, but the Trivendra government canceled this mandate of the High Court. The Dhami government passed its bill in the year 2022 and sent it to the Governor, but Raj Bhavan had returned it objecting to it.
According to senior agitator Ravindra Jugran, it was objected that it was violating Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. Jugran said that horizontal reservation is a state subject. The governments continued to give this reservation considering the agitators as a special category, which is according to the constitution. Along with Minister Saurabh Bahuguna, Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Radha Raturi, Secretary Personnel Shailesh Bagauli attended the meeting.
