26-05-2025
Federation calls for immediate reconstitution of State-Level Backward Classes Commission in Puducherry
The Federation for People's Rights has urged the Puducherry government to immediately reconstitute the State-Level Commission for Backward Classes (SLBC), which has been non-functional for the past seven years.
In a statement, G. Sugumaran, secretary of FPR, said the SLBC, a permanent body constituted in conformity with the Constitution of India and established in Puducherry in 1998, has played a critical role in the implementation of reservation policies by the government.
The SLBC is normally reconstituted once in three years. The Commission has been reconstituted six times and the life of the sixth reconstituted Commission ended in May, 2018. However, the SLBC has become non-functional in the last seven years, the federation said.
As a consequence of the dysfunctional state of the SLBC, complaints and representations submitted by the public to the Commission remain unattended in the absence of a regular Chairman and a body. Though the files relating to the reconstitution of the body had been forwarded by the authorities concerned to the Chief Minister's office, they have been gathering dust, Mr. Sugumaran said.
Though repeated representations have been made by political parties and various other organisations to reconstitute the Commission, no action has been taken so far, he said.
Mr. Sugumaran said the caste census cannot be conducted till the SLBC is reconstituted. Under these circumstances, the government should immediately reconstitute the SLBC.
