SC/ST clause in job notice sparks protest

Members of the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) staged a protest in the city on Saturday and tore photocopies of the notification duly signed by the collector. The notification dated February 21, 2017 came as a press release signed by District Collector TN Hariharan. The release from the District Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department stated that the Adi Dravida and Schedule Tribe hostels for school students in the district have 20 vacancies for the post of conservancy workers. Stating that the appointments would be on a consolidated salary basis, the release while listing the requisite qualification and age limit clearly mentioned that only persons belonging to Adi Dravida, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Caste Arunthathiyar and Scheduled Tribe communities would be eligible for these posts. 

With only three days left for the last date for submission of applications, the announcement has triggered a controversy. TPDY’s Coimbatore city secretary EM Sajith, who led the protest, said that the notification was not for a white-collar job or clerical post that were in demand and would attract competition from persons from various communities. “Only persons from Scheduled Caste (mostly Arunthathiyar) community are engaged in manual scavenging and dirty job of cleaning drains with the name of conservancy workers”, he said. He said that various organizations have been fighting for mechanisation of these jobs and to eradicate the post of conservancy worker.