india

Updated: Jul 24, 2019 21:05 IST

Low cut-off marks for upper-caste economically-weaker candidates appearing in the preliminary examination to recruit 8,000 Junior Associates for SBI has sparked a controversy with political parties in Tamil Nadu decrying Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota as a negation of social justice.

The results of the preliminary examinations released on Tuesday evening set the EWS cut-off at 28.5%, which was 25% lower than the qualifying mark of 53.75% set for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and nearly 33% lower than the 61.25% cut-off set for Scheduled Castes (SC), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and the General Category..

Candidates selected in the preliminary examination qualify for the main examination to be held on August 10.

The DMK and its ideological mentor, the Dravidar Kazhagam as well as the CPI said the low cut off for the EWS exposed the BJP government’s “conspiracy”. They also reiterated their demand for the abolition of the EWS quota, maintaining that it undermined the existing reservation regime for the lower castes.

“The 10% EWS quota for the upper castes will deprive the youth from the SCs, STs and OBC communities from employment in Central government and public sector institutions,” said the DMK president in a facebook post.

CPI State secretary R Mutharasan echoed DMK sentiment while terming the EWS quota “a ploy by the Centre to dilute reservations for the marginalised” and argued that the quota be abolished as “it violated the constitution.” The PMK and the CPM have also sought rolling back of the EWS quota.

Dravidar Kazhagam President K Veeramani said the SBI cut-offs demolished the arguments of those who put merit above reservation.

BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy called the outrage against SBI’s EWS cut-offs “misplaced” and “half-baked”.

“Since very few had applied under the EWS quota, the cut-off was low. EWS quota is new and therefore many candidates could not have secured certificates from the appropriate authorities. The propaganda that those who secure low marks would get employment under the EWS category is utterly false,” he said.

Except for the BJP, Congress, Vijaykanth’s DMDK and the minor Dalit party, Puthiya Thamizhagam, all other Tamil Nadu parties are opposed to the EWS quota. The ruling AIADMK had said that it would take legal opinion before taking a call on the issue.

In a state like Tamil Nadu that has 69% quota covering most communities, the SBI cut-offs have given the EWS critics a handle to beat the Centre with and paint the BJP as anti-social justice.