Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Oct 12: Minorities, Backward and General Category Retired and Serving Employees Welfeare Union has given a clear ultimatum to the government that if it fails to maintain status quo on the issue of promotion to SC/ST employees on the basis of reservation, they will begin non-cooperation movement across the state.

The union asked the government to maintain status quo till further order from the Supreme Court on the issue. "If the government goes ahead with the implementation of the act it has passed to implement reservation-based promotions to negate the effect of Supreme Court order, the chief secretary will have no other option but to go to prison," it warned.

In this connection, a delegation of the office bearers of the union met chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, on Thursday October 11, and handed over a memorandum. The delegation expressed its resentment about the government's efforts to appease scheduled castes and tribes which form 18 percent of the workforce to the detriment of 82 percent general category employees. It said that if the government goes ahead with the implementation of its law under pressure of vested interests, the employees will be compelled to begin non-cooperation movement.

The delegation recalled that because of a similar incident in 1996, the then chief secretary, J Vasudevan, had gone to jail for a month. It is said that the current chief secretary will also go to jail if the government takes a wrong decision for the appeasement of certain sections under pressure from a particular set of leaders.