12 per cent job reservation for Below Poverty Line candidates in Sikkim

GANGTOK: Sikkim government today announced 12 per cent reservation in all state government jobs and posts in public sector undertakings for candidates living below poverty line.

This 12 per cent "horizontal reservation" will be applicable with immediate effect only to those BPL persons who are of Sikkimese origin, an official notification said here.

As per the latest figures issued by the Planning Commission, Sikkim has just about 8 per cent people living below poverty line. This comes to about 55,000 BPL people in Sikkim, official sources said.