CAP demands clarity from State on ‘employment’ clause in amended Birth Registration Act

GANGTOK,: Citizen Action Party (CAP) Sikkim has demanded the SKM government to make public all its correspondence with the Centre when the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was being framed.

The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill is now a Central Act 2023 and being enforced nationwide from October 1. The amendment Act allows the use of a birth certificate as a single document for admission to an education institute, issuance of a driving licence, preparation of a voter list, Aadhaar number, registration of marriage or appointment to a government job.

Sikkim organisations’ concern is over the provision that allows the amended provision of endorsing a birth certificate for a government job in State and Central establishments and even local bodies. They maintain that this eligibility based on birth certificates is in conflict with Rule 4 (4), an old law of Sikkim duly protected under Article 371F, where only Sikkim Subject Certificate and Certificate of Identification holders are eligible for State government jobs.

“Sikkim is a State with special Constitutional provisions under Article 371F. This provision will totally dilute Article 371F; it is an attack on our special status and Rule 4/4 where only Sikkimese citizens are eligible for State government jobs, it is a big injustice for the locals,” said the CAP Sikkim working president Narendra Adhikari at a press meet here on Thursday.

Adikhari questioned what the elected representatives of Sikkim in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were doing when the bill with such clauses was tabled and passed in the Parliament.

“The Act falls under the concurrent list. The correspondence between the Centre and the State government when the bill was being framed must be disclosed to the public,” he said.

CAP Sikkim spokesperson Mahesh Rai added that it appears that there is no exception provided to special category States like Sikkim in the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023.  “Even if some exemption is provided within the Act, the State government and Centre must issue a statement clearly stating that the Act does not allow anyone born in Sikkim to become eligible for State government jobs. We also seek clarification from the State government within a week,” he said.

At the press meet, the CAP Sikkim also raised the regularisation demand of about 700 vocational teachers who have been working under a private agency since 2004.

“The SKM in its 2019 election manifesto had promised to bring these vocational teachers under the State Education department and appoint them as the government teachers. The vocational teachers did a rally to raise this demand but they received a hostile response from the State government. The SKM government must honour its election promise by bringing them under the Education department and regularising their services,” said Adhikari.

The CAP Sikkim also demanded the State government to regularise the services of Sanskrit teachers working in government schools.

Key JAC members join CAP

The CAP Sikkim on Thursday inducted Amrit Sharma from Gangtok and Surekha Sharma from Pakyong into its party. Both the new inductees were key members of Joint Action Council (JAC). They took CAP Sikkim membership in presence of party president LP Kafley, chief coordinator Ganesh K. Rai and senior leaders, a press release informs.

“Citizen Action Party- Sikkim is happy to have such young leaders in its midst. We at Citizen Action Party- Sikkim are happy that more and more young people of the State have joined this Party and are supportive towards the ideology of the party, the fact that our party has been able to get young people across State to join our party is a testimony of the fact that the message of reforms (Sudhar) that we have been speaking for, is indeed felt and appreciated by many in the State,” said the party in a press statement.