Governor K Sankaranarayanan of Maharashtra today issued a notification which says that select government posts in the scheduled areas of the state are to be filled only with local Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates.
The notification mandates that the posts of Talathi, Gram Sevak, Surveyor, Anganwadi Supervisor, Teacher, Adivasi Nirikshak, Agriculture Assistant, Livestock Assistant, Auxiliary Nurse, Midwife and Multi-Purpose Health Worker in scheduled areas of Maharashtra shall be reserved only for local ST candidates.
The notification was issued under the special powers of the governor conferred by Schedule V of the Constitution.
In a circular for the media, Sankaranarayanan stated that he was prompted to issue the notification as the levels of social and human development in the scheduled areas was below the state average.
"The Tribes Advisory Council of Maharashtra, headed by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, had identified the numerous vacancies, absenteeism by staff and lack of knowledge of dialects among them as factors responsible for poor delivery of services in scheduled areas," the circular stated.
"Chavan, therefore, urged the governor to issue the notification to address the problems of delivery of various services such as health, education, etc. In the scheduled areas of the state," it said.
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has marked 27 tehsils in Maharashtra as tribal areas.
