The state government has informed the Madras high court that it would continue to provide 3 per cent reservation for differently-abled persons in recruitment to the post of nutritious noon meal organisers.
Advocate general A. Navaneethakrishnan produced a copy of the G.O to this effect before a division bench of Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam when a public interest litigation by the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Care Givers (TNARATDACG) through its state secretary S. Namburajan came up for hearing on June 4.
The G.O dated May 25, 2012, said that while appointing the noon meal organisers, partially deaf persons and persons with less locomotor disability would also be considered for appointment according to the 3 per cent reservation ratio.
However, the posts of cook and assistants were not in the specified reservation as they had to handle big cooking vessels and were also entrusted with feeding the children.
“We are fully satisfied with the reservation given to the persons concerned. Therefore, no direction needs to be issued,” said the bench.
The PIL had sought a direction to quash a G.O dated August 18, 2010, of the social welfare department that did not provide reservation for differently-abled persons in filling up 28,500 posts under the NNM programme.
It also prayed for a direction to the department to issue a fresh G.O by incorporating the statutory 3 per cent reservation for differently-abled persons in line with the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act in the recruitment of NNM programme and also in the Integrated Child Development Scheme.