The Election Commission has barred the government from announcing the name of the new National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) chairperson till polling for assembly elections in all five states are over.
The NCSK is a statutory body which works to promote and safeguard the interests and rights of safai karamcharis. The Social Justice Ministry is the nodal ministry of the body.
The EC order comes at a time when assembly elections are going on in Uttar Pradesh, a state where the Scheduled Castes are in sizeable number.
The poll panel has asked the Social Justice Ministry to notify the names of the chairperson and other members of the NCSK after polling for the Assembly elections conclude, sources said.
The tenure of NCSK's previous chairperson M Sivanna, the vice-chairperson and three members ended in April last year and these posts are lying vacant.
The safai karamcharis' commission, as an autonomous organisation, evaluates and monitors implementation of various schemes for welfare of manual scavengers and other sanitation workers and also provides redressal of their grievances.
The Union ministries need to approach the EC for approval before they make any decision public till imposition of the model code of conduct ends. The poll code was put in force on January 4 for the assembly elections in five states.
Yesterday, the EC had directed CSO against releasing any state-specific data during the ongoing assembly elections least it should influence voting pattern.
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