The Opposition parties Sunday came down heavily on the government over its decision to induct public servants through lateral entry and termed the move as an effort to demolish the reservation system for SCs, STs and OBCs. The parties claimed that BJP had found this route to bypass reservations and offer top positions to its acolytes without much fanfare. The BJP hit back at the criticism saying that the move was aimed at bringing in transparency in a recruitment policy that was originally introduced by the Congress-led UPA.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi termed the move an undermining of reservations and Modi of privatizing the IAS. He assured that INDIA would fight this "anti-national" move tooth and nail. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party will stage a protest from October 2.
The BJP cited official documents, including a 2020 directive from the Union Home Ministry, which had stipulated that reservation guidelines should be followed in lateral entries. It asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to stop "misleading" the people.
On Saturday, the Union Public Service Commission issued an advertisement for 45 posts—10 joint secretaries and 35 directors/deputy secretaries—to be engaged through lateral entry on a contractual basis. This is the biggest lateral recruitment drive by the Centre so far.
He, in fact, condemned this move by writing a post on X, stating it actually reduces reservations made for the SC, ST, and OBC communities through lateral entry into these important positions. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has termed it a "conspiracy" hatched by the BJP to exclude SC, ST, and OBC groups from reservations.
Gandhi also accused Modi of sabotaging the Constitution by recruiting through the RSS instead of recruitment through the UPSC. BSP leader Mayawati termed the move "illegal and unconstitutional," saying that it would create disadvantages for employees at the lower level looking to seek promotion opportunities.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw claimed Congress's criticism of its "hypocrisy." He mentioned that the reason behind the reforms by the NDA government is to bring in better governance. He reminded that it was the Congress-led UPA government which brought in the concept of lateral entry in the first instance, which actually prepared the framework for the same. Second ARC, headed by Veerappa Moily, constituted in 2005, suggested the measure due to gaps in specialized posts.
The NDA government has institutionalized a transparent procedure for implementing the recommendations of the ARC," Vaishnaw said. BJP IT head Amit Malviya also termed Gandhi as a liar and alleged that all such lateral recruitments under UPA were done without following any proper procedures. He said that the Modi government had brought in guidelines which ensured that these recruitments do not impact the reservation system.
He referred to various official memorandums from 2016, 2019, and 2020, mandating compliance with the reservation guidelines in lateral entries. He assured that the same reservation rules and legal regime for these new recruitments are going to be applicable as in the case of those selected through UPSC.
While the lateral entry scheme was announced during Modi's time, with the explicit intention of bringing in domain experts to improve the administrative efficiency, the 2018 announcement calling for applications for senior roles like joint secretaries and directors marked a considerable expansion of this scheme. It was inspired by earlier recommendations made by the Second ARC.
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