After 9 years, Madhya Pradesh to resume promotions for government staff
After a prolonged delay of nine years, government officials and employees in Madhya Pradesh may finally receive long-pending promotions. The Chief Minister Mohan Yadav-led cabinet on Sunday approved a key proposal, clearing the path for promotions that had been on hold since 2016 due to a legal dispute over reservations in promotions.The matter dates back to 2002 when the then Digvijaya Singh-led Congress government introduced provisions for reservations in promotions. For several years, promotions were granted based on these rules.advertisementHowever, some employee organisations later alleged that while reserved category employees were benefitting from quicker promotions, general category officials were being overlooked.
The discontent led to legal challenges, and in April 2016, the Madhya Pradesh High Court struck down the Madhya Pradesh Public Service (Promotion) Rules, 2002, effectively halting the system of reservation in promotions.The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government subsequently moved the Supreme Court against the High Court's verdict.Following this, the Supreme Court ordered maintenance of status quo, which stalled all promotions across departments. With Sunday's cabinet approval, the Yadav government has taken a significant step towards resolving the issue and resuming the promotion process for thousands of eligible state employees.Must Watch
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United News of India
32 minutes ago
- United News of India
Mamata demands that BJP-led Centre release all MNREGA pending dues
Kolkata, June 18 (UNI) As the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Government to resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in West Bengal from August 1, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded that the BJP-led government release all pending dues that have been withheld for the past four years. 'The court has ordered that work must resume from August. But for four years, no work was done, no money was released. Our leaders staged protests in Delhi, and cases were filed against them. Central ministers didn't even meet them. We were humiliated in many ways,' the chief minister said in a press conference at Nabanna on Wednesday. 'We paid the workers from state funds. That money must be returned. The Centre must calculate the dues from the day the scheme was stopped and pay accordingly. Why was our share of the money given to other states? That is a crime,' she added. The central government which funds the scheme entirely had suspended MGNREGA funding to West Bengal in March 2022, citing large-scale misappropriation. West Bengal received Rs 7,507.80 crore under MGNREGA in the 2021–22 financial year. However, since then, no funds have been disbursed. The Centre had justified its actions by citing inconsistencies found in 31 out of 63 inspected worksites, according to RTI replies. 'Funds for the 100-day work scheme were not provided. People were made to work, but no payment was given. Who will pay them? We did—from the state government's own resources, through the 'Karmashree' scheme. And now they've come to celebrate 'Bangla Diwas'—those who have constantly insulted and deprived Bengal.' 'We will review this petition. You are sending teams to Bengal, but first, release the funds. It has been four years, and not a single rupee has been given. This is public money,' she said. The chief minister was referring to a four-member verification committee comprising representatives from the Central and State Governments, along with officials from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Accountant General. In April 2025, the committee reported that Rs 24 crore had been recovered from the districts under investigation. Additional Solicitor General Ashok Kumar Chakraborty, representing the Centre, said in the court that central investigation teams uncovered irregularities in districts like Hooghly, East Bardhaman, Malda, and Darjeeling, involving embezzlement of over Rs 50 crores. A broader audit revealed anomalies amounting to Rs 613 crores, of which Rs 2.1 crores had been recovered by the state as of 2024. However, the court observed that the grievances of genuine workers cannot be ignored on account of administrative or political concerns marking a major development in the long-standing deadlock over the rural employment programme. 'All the allegations are from before 2022. You are free to take any action regarding those. But the project must be started now,' Chief Justice Sivagnanam observed in response during the hearing. The court further clarified that MGNREGA, as legislated, does not allow for its indefinite suspension even in the face of corruption charges, and that any such action violates the spirit of the Act. UNI XC RN
Indian Express
43 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Ruling, Opp parties in Maharashtra trade barbs over mandatory Hindi from Class 1 to 5
Ruling and opposition political parties in Maharashtra traded barbs over the three-language formula to be implemented in the state and the issue of making Hindi mandatory for Class 1 to 5 students. The opposition warned that such a move threatens the cultural and linguistic identity of the state. Speaking to reporters in Dehu near Pune, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, 'Earlier, we had made it mandatory to learn Hindi. Now we have removed the word mandatory. Now we have said that students can learn any other third Indian language. The three-language formula is as per the NEP (National Education Policy).' Fadnavis was in the temple town to witness the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi (palanquin) begin its journey to Pandharpur as part of the annual Pandharpur Wari festival. Fadnavis said that as per the NEP, learning the mother tongue was mandatory, besides two other languages, including one Indian language. 'English is acceptable to all. The third will be any other Indian language. Earlier, we had said that the third language should be Hindi. Now we have removed the 'mandatory' clause. Students can learn any other third language, but there should be 20 students in a class. We will provide teachers. We will also provide online teaching,' he said. 'We are backing English but hating Indian languages. This is not appropriate. Indian languages are better than English…,' Fadnavis said. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray strongly criticised the state over the alleged imposition of Hindi in schools across Maharashtra, warning that such a move threatens the cultural and linguistic identity of the state. Speaking at a press conference, Thackeray revealed that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier assured him that the decision to introduce Hindi from Class 1 would be rolled back. However, Thackeray claimed that the issue has resurfaced, prompting him to address it for the third time. 'Why is Hindi being forced only in Maharashtra? Are you going to teach Marathi as the third language in Bihar or elsewhere in the country,' questioned Thackeray. 'If the central government has left language policy to the states, then why is there pressure to impose Hindi here?' Citing an example from Gujarat, Thackeray noted that schools there have made Gujarati, Mathematics, and English compulsory from the first grade, without enforcing Hindi. 'When Amit Shah and Narendra Modi are at the helm, and there is no such compulsion in Gujarat, why is Maharashtra being singled out,' he asked. Thackeray also called upon writers, intellectuals, and the media to question the government's language policy. 'This is not about politics. My stand is for the children, for the schools, and for the future of Maharashtra,' he asserted. Opposition Congress slammed the government saying the latter was merely playing with words. 'This is a part of RSS strategy of imposing Hindi on all regions and destroying the regional culture,' said Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal. He said that the party is not opposing the language but the imposition of it on students at a time when all linguists, scientists have been vocal against such a move. 'We demand the immediate withdrawal of it,' he said. Another opposition NCP-SP leader and party's state president Jayant Patil said that his party opposes the imposition of Hindi. 'It should be optional. It should not be imposed,' said Patil. MNS chief has written a letter to school principals advising them to not push forward the agenda of the state government on pushing Hindi where he warned that his workers will pay a visit for discussion. Former MLC from teachers' constituency and Congress leader Kapil Patil slammed Thackeray for threatening teachers for the actions of the state government.
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
US Supreme Court upholds Tennessee law banning youth transgender care
The US Supreme Court backed a Republican-backed ban in Tennessee on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors on Wednesday in a setback for transgender rights that could bolster efforts by states to defend other measures targeting transgender people. The court, in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative justices, decided that the ban does not violate the US Constitution's 14th Amendment promise of equal protection. They upheld a lower court's decision upholding Tennessee's law barring medical treatments such as puberty blockers and hormones for people under age 18 experiencing gender dysphoria. The Supreme Court's three liberal justices dissented. "Tennessee concluded that there is an ongoing debate among medical experts regarding the risks and benefits associated with administering puberty blockers and hormones to treat gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder and gender incongruence. (The law's) ban on such treatments responds directly to that uncertainty," conservative Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor expressed dismay that the court largely deferred to the state legislature's policy choices in upholding the ban. "By retreating from meaningful judicial review exactly where it matters most, the court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims. In sadness, I dissent," Sotomayor wrote, joined by fellow liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Gender dysphoria is the clinical diagnosis for significant distress that can result from an incongruence between a person's gender identity and the sex assigned at birth. The Justice Department under Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration had challenged the law. The dispute over transgender rights and Tennessee's ban - one of two dozen such policies enacted by conservative state lawmakers around the country - required the Supreme Court to confront a major flashpoint in the US culture wars. Since returning to office in January, Republican President Donald Trump has taken a hardline stance against transgender rights. Trump's administration told the Supreme Court in February that Tennessee's ban was not unlawful, reversing the position taken by the government under Biden. The Trump administration, however, suggested that the court press forward and decide the case despite the shift. Tennessee's law, passed in 2023, aims to encourage minors to "appreciate their sex" by prohibiting healthcare workers from prescribing puberty blockers and hormones to help them live as "a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex." Providers can be sued and face fines and professional discipline under the law for any violations. The law allows these medications to be used for any other purpose, including to address congenital defects, early-onset puberty or other conditions. Several plaintiffs - three transgender minors and their parents, as well as a doctor who provides the type of care at issue - sued to challenge the Tennessee law's legality. They were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and LGBT rights group Lambda Legal. Biden's Justice Department subsequently intervened in the lawsuit, opposing Tennessee's law. The challengers argued that the law discriminates against these adolescents based on sex and transgender status, violating the 14th Amendment. Tennessee has said it is banning "risky, unproven gender-transition interventions," pointing to "scientific uncertainty," tightened restrictions in some European countries and "firsthand accounts of regret and harm" from people who discontinue or reverse treatments. Medical associations, noting that gender dysphoria is associated with higher rates of suicide, have said gender-affirming care can be life-saving, and that long-term studies show its effectiveness. A federal judge blocked the law as likely violating the 14th Amendment but the Cincinnati-based 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed the judge's preliminary injunction. TRANSGENDER RIGHTS The Supreme Court on May 6 permitted Trump's administration to implement his ban on transgender people in the military, allowing the armed forces to discharge the thousands of current transgender troops and reject new recruits while legal challenges play out. Trump since returning to office has taken actions targeting "gender ideology" and declaring that the US government will recognize two sexes: male and female. Trump issued executive orders curtailing gender-affirming medical treatments for youth under 19 and excluding transgender girls and women from female sports, while rescinding orders by Biden combating discrimination against gay and transgender people. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. In a previous major case involving transgender rights, it ruled in 2020 that a landmark federal law forbidding workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees. During arguments in the Tennessee case in December, some of the conservative justices cited an ongoing debate among experts and policy makers over the potential benefits and drawbacks associated with the treatments at issue, suggesting that those decisions should be left to legislatures instead of courts. A broader set of state restrictions have been enacted in recent years targeting transgender people, from bathroom use to sports participation, some limited to minors but others extending to adults.
