Tribal Body Urges Governor to Rectify Notification on Vacancies Reservation

Ukhrul, Mar 5: The Tribal Youth Council Manipur (TYCM), General Headquarters, submitted a representation to the Governor of Manipur on March 3, 2025, urging the rectification of the word “may” to “shall” in the Notification dated November 14, 2014 (vide Notification No. 9/6/2007-SC/ST/OBC/DP(Pt), issued by the Deputy Secretary (DP), Government of Manipur). TYCM also urged the strict implementation of reservation rules and policies in service and post-recruitments.

TYCM stated that as per the Notification dated November 14, 2014, vide Notification No. 9/6/2007-SC/ST/OBC/DP(Pt) issued by the Deputy Secretary, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Personnel Division), Government of Manipur: In addition to this office Notification No. 9/1/91-DP(ST/SC) dated the May 17, 2011 regarding “The Manipur Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (For Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Rules, 2011”, the following points may be added: if there are only 3(three) sanctioned posts for a particular service, the 200 point Reservation Roster may not apply and the third post may be automatically reserved for Scheduled Tribe. However, the use of the word “may” instead of “shall” makes the provision discretionary rather than mandatory, creating ambiguity and potentially leading to the denial of rightful reservations for ST candidates.

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Recruitment rules/policies must be clear, precise, binding, and mandatory to ensure fair and secure representation of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in government employment, TYCM said. The use of “may” weakens the enforcement of reservations and directly suppresses the rights of tribal communities, violating the principles of equality and justice enshrined in the law. Such terminology is detrimental to the interests of the tribal populace and demolishes the rightful seat reservation of the tribal communities of Manipur.

Further, the TYCM stated that the tribal communities of Manipur have faced immense hardships and continued denial of their rightful reservation quotas in post and service recruitments over the years. It also added that the lack of clear enforcement of reservation policies had severely impacted the employment opportunities of deserving tribal candidates.

Looking forward to a swift and favorable resolution, TYCM-GHQ urged the Governor of Manipur to expedite necessary action to rectify this issue and safeguard tribal rights.

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