New Delhi: Amid widespread protests against the Centre's short-term armed forces recruitment scheme Agnipath, the bunch of reservations hastily announced by the Centre for Agniveer may have to sail through rough seas given the ceiling imposed by the Supreme Court on maximum reservations in jobs.
The Home Ministry on June 18 said that 10% of all vacancies in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles will be reserved for Agniveer, the armed force recruits that will be asked to leave after serving for four years under the new scheme. Besides, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also approved a proposal to reserve 10 percent of the job vacancies in the defense ministry for Agniveer.
However, given these reservations were announced in a rush following the massive protests, experts are wary about their practical implementation. Speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat, constitutional expert and former Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha P D T Achary said that the reservation of vacancies announced by the central government for Agniveer in various departments may exceed the ceiling imposed by the Supreme Court.
"...in which case, anyone can challenge it in court. It is of course for the government to deal with that issue," he said. "Perhaps reservation in government jobs for discharged Agniveers was not a part of the original scheme. Looking at the violent reaction from the youth, maybe the government hastily announced it to pacify them. Of course, all governments do such things to deal with violent reactions from the public. But what it does should hold up in court," he said.
Back in 1992, the Supreme Court pronounced a cap on reservations, ruling that “no provision of reservation or preference can be so vigorously pursued as to destroy the very concept of equality”. “Since this Court has consistently held that the reservation under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) should not exceed 50% and the States and the Union have by and large accepted this as correct it should be held as constitutional prohibition and any reservation beyond 50% would liable to be struck down,” the 1992 judgment said.
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Achary said that on the legality of the reservations, people can argue both ways. "As per the Supreme Court, reservations cannot exceed the 50 percent mark. That is the SC-mandated law. The point is, is it going to violate that, or is the government planning to enact a law under which you can exceed the 50 percent as mandated by the apex court. So one cannot deny the fact that this matter would soon be gaining the attention in the domain of legality and established law mandated by the Supreme Court," said Achary.
Asked to comment on the present status of reservation in the paramilitary forces, Achary said: "At present, there is a reservation for ex-servicemen in various sectors in the states. Transport departments for example. A large number of drivers who retire from the army are absorbed in state transport services." "The most important point that is not being talked about is that you cannot just make your army bigger and bigger in the domain of manpower. The dependence on manpower is now decreasing in other parts of the world and the need of the hour is the emerging technology that needs to be absorbed into the defense sector," he said.
Can Agniveers maintain secrecy? To it, Achary said that while one cannot deny the threat, there were existing laws and protocols which would not allow such things to happen. "I am only concerned about the efficiency of the Indian army. Legality will come out but would the efficiency of the Army be maintained by this move, or would it be compromised? Nothing should be done to weaken the army," he said.
