Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the Uttar Pradesh government firmly believes that the benefit of the reservation should be extended to all reserved category candidates, ensuring that no candidate faces injustice.
He also directed the Basic Education Department to proceed according to the Allahabad High Court's order asking the state government to prepare a fresh selection list for the appointment of 69,000 assistant teachers within three months. The court's order has triggered a political row in the state with the opposition parties accusing the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh of "playing with the reservation system".
During a meeting with officials of the Basic Education Department, Adityanath said, "The government is of the clear opinion that the benefit of the reservation facility provided by the Constitution should be available to all the candidates of the reserved category and no injustice should be done to any candidate."
The chief minister was briefed by the Basic Education Department on all aspects of the court's decision regarding the recruitment of 69,000 assistant teachers, according to an official statement.
"Adityanath then directed the department to proceed based on the observations made by the Supreme Court and the ruling by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court," the statement added.
In the recent Allahabad High Court ruling, a bench comprising Justice AR Masoodi and Justice Brijraj Singh set aside the selection lists issued in June 2020 and January 2022, which included 6,800 candidates of the reserved categories.
The bench also revised the earlier order and said the reserved category candidates who qualify for the general category merit list should be migrated to that category. In addition, the benefit of vertical reservation should also be extended to horizontal reservation categories, it had said.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to X on Sunday to apparently target Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya over his recent remarks on the Allahabad High Court's order.
Yadav in a post in Hindi alleged that the "favoured deputy chief minister" is part of the government that snatched reservation from the youth. When they got justice after a long fight, he came forward to portray himself as sympathetic to their cause, he said.
Hitting back at Yadav for his remarks, Maurya alleged the "Congress' pawn 'SP Bahadur's PDA is a big lie". 'PDA' is an acronym for "picchde, Dalit and alpsankhyak" (backwards, Dalit and minorities) coined by Yadav in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections and battling for their rights was a major poll plank of the Samajwadi Party.
In a post on X on Saturday, Maurya had said, "The decision of the Allahabad High Court in the recruitment of teachers is a welcome step towards social justice. This is the victory of those backward category people and Dalits who fought a long battle for their rights. I welcome them wholeheartedly."
