Patna: The Nitish Kumar government has thrown open the door for "reservation in promotion" to employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) and has issued detailed guidelines in this regard.

Such reservation was at a standstill in Bihar since 2016 after Patna High Court had issued an order in a case related to it. The state government had appealed against it in the Supreme Court in 2017 and the case (no. 4880/2017) is pending hearing.

The government's decision, which was notified on July 20 by the general administration department, came in the light of recommendations by a high-level committee comprising seven IAS officers in the rank of principal secretary or secretary.

"A high-level committee was set up on June 27 this year in the light of two recent judgments by the Supreme Court in similar cases delivered in May and June, as well as, advice issued to all the states by the Union department of personnel and training," a senior general administration department official said.

The official added that all the promotions given in view of the state's decision "will be provisional and subject to the orders of the apex court in Bihar government's civil appeal no. 4880/2017 (state government and others versus Sushil Kumar Singh and others)"

According to the state government's resolution and directions, the benchmark for promotion of SC and ST employees will be the same as recommended for the employees belonging to the unreserved category. Also, employees belonging to the SC and ST categories could be given promotion to higher posts only when the designated quota in their category goes unrepresented.

Promotions to the employees of reserved categories will be given in vacancies in their categories, while promotions to the unreserved employees will be given in vacancies pertaining to their category.

In reservation in promotion, roster clearance in the light of backlog vacancies will be compulsory. Employees appointed on the basis of their talent will not suffer under any circumstances.

Meanwhile, a senior government official called it a big step by the state government and said it will pave the way for "reservation in promotion" for other reserved categories such as the Economically Backward Class and Other Backward Castes.