The Uttarakhand government has amended its controversial notification providing preference in eligibility criteria in government jobs on the basis of local dialects.
The move came amid uproar in the state particularly in the plains where several political and non-political organisations had threatened a stir on the issue with the union minister of the state for labour Harish Rawat also opposing it. “Now, there will be no preferences in eligibility criteria on the basis of local dialects in government jobs,” said Devendra Bhasin, state media advisory committee chairman.
CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank last month announced thousands of new jobs in the government sector including 12,000 in class-III category with a promise of preference to all those candidates who had knowledge of local dialects like Jaunsari, Garhwali, Kumaoni and others in the hilly areas. This led to resentment in certain quarters with organisations like Punjabi Sabha opposing the move tooth and nail, stating any such move would create a wedge between the hilly region and the plains.
On November 9 when the state celebrated its 10th formation day, the state chief minister promised to provide over 33,000 government jobs in the next one year. This was in addition to the chief minister’s announcement of creating a whopping 50,000 jobs in IT and other private sectors during the period.
The experts, however, said it will be an uphill task for Nishank to fill all these government jobs since the financial condition is not very sound in Uttarakhand due to the sixth-pay commission and various other factors. The fiscal deficit has failed to meet the obligations of the 13th Finance Commission which wanted it to be three per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product, they noted. For filling these vacancies, the government has already initiated the process.
