SC directs provincial govts to maintain minorities’ job quota at all levels

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has directed all the provincial governments to ensure that the employment quota of minorities is maintained at all levels and to strictly avoid discriminatory and demeaning advertisements flouting the dignity and self-respect of the minorities.

A three-judge bench judgment, authored by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, said that in order to safeguard the rights of minorities and persons with disabilities (PWDs) and to provide equality of status and opportunities, the State has to endeavour to bridge the gap and ensure that the differently-abled persons and the non-Muslim minority in our country get to enjoy their fundamental rights under the Constitution with the same fervour and force as enjoyed by the Muslim majority and majority of persons with fuller abilities.

Hence other than the general seats, the additional provision of quota for the PWDs and the minorities reaffirms the constitutional commitment.

The judgment rejected the Punjab Public Service Commission’s plea that in case the said seats are not filled by PWDs and the non-Muslim minority in a particular year, the said seats should be opened and made available to general quota.

This is not permissible as it would offend constitutional values, fundamental rights and the Principles of Policy in the constitution. The seats earmarked for minorities or PWDs must be retained and carried forward. This quota is their constitutional right and cannot be reversed or made available to other citizens.

The Court directed the PPSC to ensure that the word “disabled” is not used and instead persons with disabilities or persons with different abilities is put to use.

The Court hoped that in the future these terms will be incorporated in the official correspondence as well as relevant notifications, including public advertisements, issued by the government.

The SC office is directed to dispatch the order to the chief secretaries of all the provinces to ensure that this order is complied with in letter and spirit at the national level.

The judgment said that in order to actualize the constitutional mandate and the vision of our founding father, we have the Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance, 1981 which, post-18th amendment, has translated into provincial laws. Provisions of the Ordinance are in pari materia to the Punjab Law.

Section 10 of the Ordinance, as applicable in Punjab, provides that not less than three percent of the total number of persons employed by an establishment at any time shall be PWDs in the manner and procedure provided under the said Ordinance.

Similarly, notification dated 27.3.2010, issued under section 23 of the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974 by the S&GAD (Regulations Wing), five per cent quota has to be reserved for minorities (non-Muslims) against the total number of posts advertised in the future, including posts to be filled on the basis of competitive examination to be conducted by the PPSC.

Later on, through an amendment brought about in the said notification, the vacancies reserved for minorities for which qualified candidates are not available at the time of a particular recruitment process, shall be carried forward and filled through appointment of persons belonging to minorities (non-Muslims).

The Court noted with concern that according to the fact-finding report titled, “Unequal Citizens, Ending Systemic Discrimination against Minorities” published in May 2022 by the National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR) established under the National Commission for Human Rights Act, 2012 with the mandate to promote and protect human rights as provided for in the Constitution and the various international instruments to which Pakistan is a State party or shall become a State party, advertisements published in major newspapers all over the country show that religious minorities have been recruited exclusively for sanitary work.

The judgment observed that according to the report in the advertisements, under eligibility requirements, there is often a clause that states “Only Non-Muslims Apply.” Such discriminatory advertisements and the employment selection process limiting the job quota only for low-level posts is offensive to the constitutional values, the fundamental rights of the minorities, and the notification.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023