November 18, 2008	Tuesday	Ziqa'ad 19, 1429

PESHAWAR, Nov 17: The NWFP government has reserved 0.5 per cent quota in government jobs for the minorities, which stands at 0.29 per cent of the total population of the province.

Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti last week had approved a summary to this effect, making the NWFP as the first province to have a separate quota in government jobs for the minorities, an official told Dawn here on Monday.

In NWFP, 10 per cent quota is reserved for women in addition to their participation in the open merit, two per cent for disabled persons, five per cent for earthquake victims of Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Shangla and Kohistan for three years with effect from 2006 and 25 per cent quota allotted for the sons of class-IV servants.

These quotas were protected under the 1973 constitution, but there is no specification for the minorities in any law so far even though Article 36 of the same constitution clarifies that the state shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities, including their due representation in the federal and provincial services.

To materialise the quota allocation, the official said the NWFP government had to amend the NWFP (Appointment, Promotion and Transfer) Rules 1989 and the recruitment policy of the provincial government.

According to NWFP Bureau of Statistics, the minorities’ population is not equal to one per cent of the total population of the minorities in any district of NWFP and collectively their headcount is 0.29 per cent of its total population.

The official opined that minorities were socially and economically marginalised segment of the society, as one of the major factors of their backwardness was stereotype menial jobs such as sanitary workers etc, which doesn’t offer them any opportunity to progress in career.

The minorities living in Peshawar have appreciated the decision of allocating quota in government jobs, saying it will open avenues of progress for them.

Gulshan Yousuf, member City District Government Peshawar, said the decision reflected the liberal and progressive policies of the ANP-led coalition government. He said the 1973 constitution protected minorities’ right, but no successive government took practical steps to provide a level playing field for the marginalised segment of the society.