6,955 vacancies for STs in Central depts

New Delhi: The government on Thursday said 6,955 backlog vacancies existed in different Central Government organisations for those belonging to Scheduled Tribes. In a reply in Rajya Sabha, it said vacant posts of reserved category candidates were not centrally maintained, as the recruitment process was carried out by the respective cadre-controlling authorities through recruitment agencies concerned. However, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) monitored the progress on filling backlog reserved vacancies for SCs, STs and OBCs with 10 ministries/departments, having more than 90 percent of the employees in central government. TNS

Central Education Bill tablled

New Delhi: A Bill seeking to allow filling of over 7,000 existing vacancies by direct recruitment in accordance with a new quota system in institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. A similar Bill was introduced in Parliament during the tenure of the previous Lok Sabha and it had lapsed. The government had then brought an ordinance. The fresh Central Education Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Bill, 2019, seeks to replace the ordinance issued by the previous government. It was introduced by Minister of State for HRD Sanjay Dhotre. The Nill will consider the university/college as one unit restoring earlier reservation system based on a 200-point roster. PTI

No breakfast in mid-day meal scheme

The HRD Ministry on Thursday ruled out introduction of breakfast in the mid-day meal scheme offered by the government. The information was shared by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in response to a written question in Rajya Sabha on whether a plan is under consideration for introducing breakfasts in mid-day meals. “No. As per the provisions of National Food Security Act, 2013, children studying in classes 1 to 8 or within the age group of 6-14 years are entitled to one mid day meal free of charge, every day except on school holidays, in all schools run by local bodies, government and government aided schools so as to meet nutritional standards specified in the Act,” Nishank said.