ATSUM warns on SC/ST reservation

Imphal, July, 3 : All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) will be compelled to fight for their rights and the government will be responsible for any consequences that follows if the rules for the Manipur Reservation of Vacancies in Post and Service (for SC and ST) Act 2007 are not framed and passed during the assembly session starting from July 3, stated a press communiqué issued on July 2 by president, ATSUM, Thomas Taishya.

The students' organization stated that the issue of reservation for SC/ST has been hotly debated and a contentious issue since the birth of the state in 1972. ATSUM believes that tribals are not adequately represented in all government and semi-government establishments, and pointing out that a mere 25% of the total state government employees are tribals, demanded for immediate address of the issue.

The ATSUM maintained that reservation for STs in central institutions located in Manipur, such as Manipur University, Central Agricultural University, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, etc is very pathetic and meager as the concern authorities have the excuse of following the central reservation norm of giving a mere 7.5% to tribals. It further stated that 'a community' that constitutes 56% of the total population has grabbed all the jobs in the state before and will be doing so in the future.