In order to promote green, safe and sustainable mining practices using technology as a tool, Ministry of Coal (MoC) has launched a web portal for star rating of coal mines. Union Minister for Coal & Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi launched this portal in New Delhi today which enables all operational coal mines across India for self-rating, their subsequent validation by Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO), further evaluation and finally award of star rating.

To increase the volume of research studies and provide incentives for the same, Government has introduced many schemes/programmes, including the following:

Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) Scheme for promotion of research in the frontier areas of science & technology. It seeks to incentivize a maximum of 3,000 most talented students from recognized Universities/Institutions who will be selected as per PMRF guidelines to enrol in the Ph.D program in IITs/IISc/IISERs/CUs by providing attractive rates of fellowship @ Rs.70,000/- per month for the first two years, Rs.75,000/- per month for the 3rd year, and Rs.80,000/- per month in the 4th and 5th years. In addition, a research grant of Rs.2.00 lakh per year for a period of 5 years will be given to each fellow to meet the cost of presenting research papers.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is providing financial assistance to the Ph.D scholars under the schemes of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) in Science, Humanities and Social Sciences (NET), Swami Vivekanand Single Girl Child Fellowship for research in Social Science, Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students, National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and National Fellowship for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), wherein fellowship @ Rs.31000/- per month is provided for first 2 years as JRF followed by Rs.35000/- per month for remaining tenure as SRF. In addition to the fellowship, admissible HRA & contingency grants are also provided.

Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE) for Humanities and Human Sciences.

Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) for technical research. Impactful Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS) for social sciences research.

Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) for joint research with Foreign Universities; and National Doctoral Fellowship (NDF) scheme to promote research culture and collaborative research between Institute and Industries leading to start-ups in AICTE institutions.

The information was given by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

About Guru Ravidas: Guru Ravidas was a North Indian mystic poet of the bhakti movement. While the exact year of his birth is not known, it is believed that the saint was born in 1377 C.E.

Guru Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated on Magh Purnima, which is the full moon day in the Hindu calendar month of Magha.

The Adi Granth of Sikhs, in addition to the Panchvani are the two of the oldest documented sources of the literary works of Guru Ravidas.

Notably, he belonged to an untouchable caste and suffered a lot of atrocities as a result. However, the saint chose to focus on spiritual pursuits and also penned several devotional songs which made a huge impact in the Bhakti movement during the 14th to 16th century CE.

He is believed to be a disciple of the bhakti saint-poet Ramananda and a contemporary of the bhakti saint-poet Kabir.

One of his famous disciples was the saint, Mirabai. Among Ravidas’s moral and intellectual achievements were the conception of “Begampura”, a city that knows no sorrow; and a society where caste and class have ceased to matter.

Guru Ravidas Teachings: Guru Ravidas spoke against the caste divisions and spoke of removing them to promote unity. His teachings resonated with the people, leading to a religion being born called the Ravidassia religion, or Ravidassia Dharam based on his teachings.

He taught about the omnipresence of God and said that a human soul is a particle of God and hence Ravidas rejected the idea that people considered lower caste cannot meet God. He said in his teachings that the only way to meet God was to free the mind from the duality.

What has the court said? Reservation in promotion in public posts cannot be claimed as a fundamental right.

Articles 16 (4) and 16 (4-A) of the Constitution does not confer individuals with a fundamental right to claim reservation in promotion. It only empowers the State to make a reservation in matters of appointment and promotion in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, only if in the opinion of the State they are not adequately represented in the services of the State.

State governments are not bound to make a reservation and have discretion in providing reservations. The judgment also noted that even the courts could not issue a mandamus directing the States to provide reservation.

Constitutional basis for reservations- Article 335: Article 335 recognises that special measures need to be adopted for considering the claims of SCs and STs in order to bring them to a level-playing field.

Need: Centuries of discrimination and prejudice suffered by the SCs and STs in a feudal, caste-oriented societal structure poses real barriers of access to opportunity. The proviso contains a realistic recognition that unless special measures are adopted for the SCs and STs, the mandate of the Constitution for the consideration of their claim to appointment will remain illusory.

Significance: The proviso is an aid of fostering the real and substantive right to equality to the SCs and STs. It protects the authority of the Union and the States to adopt any of these special measures, to effectuate a realistic (as opposed to a formal) consideration of their claims to appointment in services and posts under the Union and the states. It also emphasises that the need to maintain the efficiency of administration cannot be construed as a fetter on adopting these special measures designed to uplift and protect the welfare of the SCs and STs.

Indra Sawhney vs Union of India and M Nagraj case: In its landmark 1992 decision in Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, the Supreme Court had held that reservations under Article 16(4) could only be provided at the time of entry into government service but not in matters of promotion.

It added that the principle would operate only prospectively and not affect promotions already made and that reservation already provided in promotions shall continue in operation for a period of five years from the date of the judgment. It also ruled that the creamy layer can be and must be excluded.

On June 17, 1995, Parliament, acting in its constituent capacity, adopted the seventy-seventh amendment by which clause (4A) was inserted into Article 16 to enable reservation to be made in promotion for SCs and STs. The validity of the seventy-seventh and eighty-fifth amendments to the Constitution and of the legislation enacted in pursuance of those amendments was challenged before the Supreme Court in the Nagaraj case.

Upholding the validity of Article 16 (4A), the court then said that it is an enabling provision. “The State is not bound to make reservation for the SCs and STs in promotions. But, if it seeks to do so, it must collect quantifiable data on three facets — the backwardness of the class; the inadequacy of the representation of that class in public employment; and the general efficiency of service as mandated by Article 335 would not be affected”.

The court ruled that the constitutional amendments do not abrogate the fundamentals of equality.