Rahul Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, described the government’s decision to hire public servants through lateral entry on Sunday as a ‘anti-national step’, claiming that it is openly snatching away the reservation of SCs, STs, and OBCs. “Reservation of SC, ST and OBC classes is being openly snatched away by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts in various ministries of the central government,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
These positions are typically filled by officers from Group A services, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Forest Service (IFoS), among other all-India services.
Additionally, the former Congress president also alleged that PM Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh instead of the Union Public Service Commission.
Gandhi’s attack came after it emerged that 45 specialists would soon join key posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries in different central ministries. “I have always said that the underprivileged are not represented in all the country’s top posts, including the top bureaucracy. Instead of improving it, they are being pushed further away from the top posts through lateral entry. This is a robbery of the rights of talented youth preparing for UPSC and an attack on the concept of social justice including reservation for the underprivileged,” Gandhi said.
The SEBI is a vivid example of what representatives of a few corporations will do by sitting on decisive government posts, where for the first time a person from the private sector was made the chairperson, Gandhi said in an apparent reference to the conflicts of interest allegations against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch. Gandhi further stated that the INDIA bloc will vehemently reject this ‘anti-national step’ that undermines social justice and the administrative system. “Privatisation of the IAS is Modi’s guarantee for ending reservation,” he said.
Notedly, on Saturday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) posted job advertisements for 45 positions, including 10 joint secretaries and 35 directors/deputy secretaries, to be filled on a contract basis through lateral entry. According to an official, it’s the Center’s largest batch of lateral hiring yet.
(with inputs from PTI)