Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court Wednesday sought responses from the state govt and other authorities on a plea seeking 9% sub-quota for the Bhil community within the existing 12% reservation for Scheduled Tribes (STs). The petitioners have requested that appointments under the ST quota be kept on hold until the matter is decided.A division bench of Justice Inderjeet Singh and Justice Sandeep Taneja issued notices to chief secretary, principal secretary (personnel), national commission for scheduled tribes and central govt while hearing a petition filed by Shankar Lal Dahiya and others.Petitioners are members of the Adivasi Bhil Reservation Struggle Committee. “Reservation benefits are being given without adequately assessing the social, economic, and educational backwardness of different communities included in the ST category,” advocate Manoj Chaudhary, appearing for the petitioners, told the court.The petition further claims that “the Meena community has made significant progress socially, economically, and educationally and is receiving a major share of the benefits of ST reservation”. In contrast, the Bhil community “continues to remain inadequately represented in govt services and other sectors,” the petitioners claim.Petitioners have also claimed that there is no adequate and updated govt data on the social, educational, and economic backwardness of the Bhil community, adding that no comprehensive survey has been conducted after 1931 to assess the community’s representation.The petition refers to a letter allegedly sent by national commission for scheduled tribes to Rajasthan chief secretary on Feb 25. According to the petitioners, no sub-classification of the ST category has been carried out in Rajasthan, despite the commission calling for the same.The plea raises issues concerning the socio-economic condition of the Bhil community and alleges that it has not received adequate benefits under schemes meant for economically weaker sections. It further refers to special provisions in Bhil-dominated districts and alleges that the absence of state-level reservation has resulted in unequal treatment of Bhil and Sahariya communities.
