New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry has decided to revoke a policy that had been in place since 2007, which allowed age relaxation in central government job recruitment for the relatives of those who lost their lives in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
In an order dated March 28 to the Gujarat chief secretary, the Ministry of Home Affairs said, “I am directed to refer to this Ministry’s letter of even number dated 14.05.2007 on the above mentioned subject and to inform that the preference given to children/family members of those who died in the riots of 2002 in Gujarat, in recruitment in para-military forces, IR Battalions, State Police Forces, public sector undertakings and other state and Central government departments by giving necessary age relaxation, stands withdrawn with immediate effect,” as reported by TNIE.
The decision comes nearly two decades after the Congress-led UPA government introduced special measures in January 2007 to support the families of those killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots. These measures included not only financial aid but also preferential treatment in job recruitment, with relaxed age limits. In 2014, just before the Lok Sabha elections, the central government broadened the scope of these benefits to include roles in the Intelligence Bureau and the CISF. At the time, the Home Ministry issued separate advertisements announcing an upper age limit relaxation of up to five years for the victims’ children and dependents.
The advertisements made it clear that children — including adopted sons and daughters — as well as dependent family members like a spouse or children, and in the case of an unmarried victim, dependent siblings, were eligible for compensation if they were fully reliant on the victim at the time of their death during the riots.
In July 2015, while considering a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought employment on compassionate grounds for a relative of a 2002 riot victim, the Supreme Court refused to issue such a directive. The Court stated that since compensation had already been provided to the victims' families, it could not mandate the government to also offer jobs. The case is still pending before the Court.