Successive
Governments in Manipur have been formulating
policies after policies to suit the interest
of the people in power during their
respective periods. For every interview or
DPC held for filling up any Government
vacant posts, a new RR is drafted to suit
the candidate(s) he/they have in mind. For
these powerful people, there is nothing to
stop them from doing what they want whether
it is right or wrong. What they want is
right for them.
Very often in this kind of free power
exercise, the most underprivileged people,
the Tribals and the minorities become the
victims. In a very skilled manipulation, the
reservation quota of the Scheduled Tribe &
Scheduled Caste is systematically looted by
the people falling in the general category.
This becomes possible because their people
are in the top position in almost all the
departments, even among the policy makers in
the Govt. including the Legislative Assembly
and the Cabinet.
To have a clear understanding of the matter,
some incidents may be cited. In the 100
point roster, 1/3 is reserved for the ST and
1-2% for the SC. If 10 vacancies are to be
filled up there has to be three seats
minimum reserved for the ST candidates. In
order to deprive the ST candidates of their
share, the manipulators notify only 5
vacancies. In this case, there will be only
one reserve seat for ST. After some time
another 5 vacancies are notified in the same
condition. This way, one reserved quota of
the ST is systematically taken away by the
generals.
If the vacancy is four they notify for two
at a time, and claiming that it is not
reserved as the number is less than three.
Later, they notify for the remaining two
vacancies in the same manner resulting in
total violation of the rights of the tribals.
This way all the appointments and promotions
in Government Departments are filled up by
people belonging to the General Category
even in most of the reserved posts meant for
the STs and the SCs. This is amply proved by
the present number of employees serving in
the Government Departments which are filled
up by people in the General Category.
According to the 100 point roster, if all
the appointment process followed, minimum
1/3 of the total employees of the State
should be tribals and 1-2 percent SC. But
due to the expert manipulation, today, out
of the total 98,000 plus employees, only
less than 14,000 are tribals. If 1/3
reservation policy was followed there should
have been not less than 32,250 tribal
employees.
To add salt to the already bleeding wound,
the State Govt. also manipulates maximum
when they conduct entrance exams for
Medical, Engineering etc. to be selected as
Govt. nominees. A clear example which
remains very much alive till date is that of
the 2003 examination for selection of MBBS/BDS
courses.
The Manipur Govt. through its concerned
department had invited application from
prospective candidates vide their
Notification No. 104/1/2003-DHS dated
10/6/2003 under the relevant provision of
Manipur MBBS/BDS Entrance Examination Rules
1993. The last date for receipt of
application was June 21, 2003 and the
entrance test was held on June 29, 2003.
In the mean time, the manipulation nature of
the State Govt. became active again and
initiated for amendment of the then existing
Rules of 1993. The newly manipulated rules,
2003 was then published in the Gazette on
the eve of the entrance exam dated back as
June 25, 2003. In the manipulated rules,
they added two clauses which were never the
practice in any of the earlier examinations
which say that the minimum qualifying pass
mark for the General Category - 50% and 40%
for the ST. The 2nd and more discriminating
manipulation of the new rule was that the
reserved seats of SC/SC candidates fail to
secure 40% marks in the entrance test/exam
and vice-versa.
What is the meaning of saying dereserving ST
reserved seats and vice versa? Fully knowing
that the tribals will not secure more marks
than the candidates belonging to the General
Category owing to the educational
background, facilities etc. the manipulative
words “Vice-versa” was added.
As a result of this great manipulation, when
the results were declared, the generals
tried to claim all the 17 reserved seats on
the basis that they secure higher marks than
the tribal candidates. Through this
manipulative new rule that was notified much
against the provision of the then existing
rule under which rule the entrance
examination was notified, the majority
people wanted to do away with all the tribal
candidates. They wanted to nominate all the
MBBS/BDS seats that is allotted to Manipur
State to one single community.
Thanks to the timely intervention of the All
Tribal Students Union, Manipur (ATSUM), the
State Government was made to change its
stand on the question of negative marking.
After signing a MoU between the ATSUM and
the Chief Minister, the 17 reserved seats
for the Tribals were filled by the top 17
tribal candidates and nominated to various
Medical Colleges as State Government
nominees beginning the 2003-2004 session.
Now they have completed the 4th semester and
studying in the 5th Semester out of the
total nine Semesters for the course.
Even at this point, some strong people
belonging to the General Category are trying
to cut off the future of these 17 ST
students by going to the courts even up to
the Supreme Court claiming for their rights.
Well, the tribal people are never against
anyone who has the merit as long as they do
not encroach into the quota of the tribals.
What worries the tribals are the
manipulation and violation of tribal
peoples' rights by the people who claim to
be the custodian of our rights that has been
enshrined in the Constitution of India.
The majority people shout very load and
clear that the Integrity of Manipur should
not be broken in any way. They say they will
go to any extend to safeguard its
territories that the plains and hill people
are brothers and sisters, children of the
same mother Manipur.
If that is the
case why all these manipulations? Why snatch
away almost all the shares that belong to
the tribals? Why is it that all the
Development funds meant for the Hill areas
are diverted to programs in the valley
alone? Why is it that no Maths and Science
teachers want to teach in the Hill Schools
inspite of the fact that they are appointed
against ST quota under the manipulative
condition that “no qualified ST candidates
were available”? Why are those teachers who
were posted in the hill schools transferred
to the valley schools? Why is it that there
are 12-14 Maths and Science teachers in a
high school in the valley whereas not a
single Maths and Science teachers are
available in most of the Hill schools?
This manipulative policy of the successive
Manipur Government is not healthy. This has
hurt the sentiments of the hill people to
the extreme. If this trend continues, I'm
afraid, that the tribals will come out
openly on the streets and demand for
separate administration altogether, nothing
to do with the valley people. It will be
wise on the part of the State Government and
the majority community to think and mend
their past mistakes by filling up backlog
vacancies in the Government jobs otherwise,
they can expect for the most unexpected and
strongest, protest from the usually simple
and uncomplaining tribal people. |
