Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to curtail reservation for the Backward Classes and Dalits by giving a push to privatisation of public sector units.
This, he said, was a part of a well-defined conspiracy to do away with reservation completely. Akhilesh said the BJP is against the SP's long pending demand of getting a caste census done because the exercise, when correlated with the caste representation in government departments, will expose the BJP.
"But the SP will continue to press for a caste census and renew its pledge to get it done in UP within three months of being voted to power," he said. The SP national president said the government is focusing on privatisation as there is no reservation policy therein.
"It is a part of a design and privatisation is being encouraged by the ruling BJP in all public sector units. Slowly they want to do away with the very provisions of reservation," he said.
Akhilesh, who is also the leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, said as a part of a strategy, government vacancies are not advertised in the first place to keep away Backwards and Dalits from seeking reservation in jobs.
"In case any department advertises vacancies, the exercise of filling them up is immediately postponed and subsequently backdoor entries of preferred candidates is done," he said.
Citing an instance, Akhilesh said, during recent appointments in the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) posts reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes were not filled.
"One can see what has happened in appointments of vice-chancellors in universities of the state. Similar anomalies have surfaced in the appointment of 69,000 teachers," he said.