Haryana’s lop-sided job quota raised in Rajya Sabha

NEW DELHI - Describing it as a “new face of reservation”, Communist Party of India-Marxist member Brinda Karat Tuesday raised the issue of 67 percent quota for men in jobs in Haryana and said the state government was depriving women of a level playing field.

“This is a new face of reservation, the 33 percent reservation for women in jobs has been converted into 67 percent reservation for men in Haryana,” Karat informed the Rajya Sabha, raising the issue during zero hour.

Starting with a disclaimer that the issue had no political motive, Karat said that reservation was being misused by the Haryana government to deprive women of a level playing field.

“This house will be shocked to hear the cut offs for men and women in a teacher’s recruitment exam. In Hindi, the cut off for men was 71 percent, and for women it was 76 percent. Similarly, in other subjects as well, the cut off was higher for women and they were not taken in the general category,” she said.

“In the disability category, the cut off for women was 65 percent and that for men was 60 percent even though 40 percent teachers in Haryana presently are women. Women are not getting a level playing field,” she said.

She was joined by Bharatiya Janata Party member Maya Singh and other members who protested the job quota.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ashwani Kumar assured the house that the issue will be taken up with the Haryana government.

The Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) has announced reservation of 67 percent posts for male category and the remaining 33 percent for women in an advertisement for 1,317 posts of lecturers in schools.

The Haryana Staff Selection Commission in reply to a Right to Information query recently said: “No female candidate has been selected against the general category.”