Supreme Court issues notice to Centre, States in PIL seeking Reservation for Orphans [Read Petition]

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Center and State governments in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking reservation for orphans in government jobs and educational institutions..The petition filed by Poulomi Pavini Shukla was heard by a Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R Banumathi. .Shukla who has co-authored a book on the state of orphans in India, appeared and argued in-person today..The petition claims that the government has failed to protect the rights of orphans who are incapable of protecting their rights. It has been stated that the State has been treating India’s “2 crore orphans” on par with forward castes, by not affording them reservation on par with children from the OBC, Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities..It has been further emphasised that children from these communities are afforded reservation in education and employment apart from financial assistance, despite having parents, while orphans are not. The petitioners contention is that this is a violation of the right to equality..A move to shift the responsibility for the care, education and aftercare of orphans from the Centre to the States in 1969, has proved counterproductive owing to the rigidity in State budgets. One of the reliefs being sought is that this responsibility be re-assigned to the Centre..The fact that no official census has been conducted to determine the number of orphans in the country has also been highlighted, with the petition stating that several backward West African countries, and economically backward nations such as Afghanistan and Nepal, have invested in such exercises..It has also been claimed that India’s Integrated Child Development Scheme or ICDS has been able to partially address concerns relating to nearly 100,000 children, which is less than half a percent of the total number of orphans in the country..The figure of two crores or 20 million orphans has been relied upon by the petitioner on the basis of studies conducted by organisations such as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the World Bank and the International Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) “SOS Children’s Village”..The petition also stresses upon the fact that the budgetary allocation for “child protection” comes to Rs. 725 crores. Even if this amount is divided by an estimate of 25 million children who are either ‘orphans’ or ‘Children in Need of Care and Protection’ the budgetary provision translates to 79.4 paise per child per day..Besides seeking reservation for orphans in government jobs and educational institutions, the petitioner has also urged the court to ensure that orphans are given an opportunity to choose a name, religion and caste of their choice. It has been claimed that this task is currently the responsibility of some minor government functionary who performs the duty in an arbitrary and callous manner, in most cases..The contention that oprhans require at least the same amount of institutional support and constitutional protection as OBC’s is bolstered by the claim that as a class, they tick all eleven boxes that the Mandal Commission used to determine, social, educational and economic backwardness..The petition also urges the court to direct authorities to conduct surveys and studies into issues such as suicide rates, tendencies towards criminal behaviour and others among orphans..It has also been suggested the New Years Day, be designated “orphan day” to build awareness and promote charitable donations to organisations that provide care to orphans..Read the petition