Did Rahul Gandhi’s lateral entry reservation move defeat Modi, this formula was a hit in the Lok Sabha elections

arun Posted On August 21, 2024

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lateral entry Recently, many opposition parties including Congress and Samajwadi Party opposed direct recruitment lateral entry for 45 vacant posts of Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary at the Centre. Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government is ending reservation by ‘privatizing IAS’. In view of the growing opposition, the Narendra Modi government hastily banned the advertisement of the posts. Let us understand whether Rahul defeated the Modi government with the lateral entry move?

Authored by Dinesh Mishra

Lateral entry opposed even by NDA allies
Lateral entry system was introduced during Congress government
Is it against the basic spirit of reservation
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New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government at the Centre recently put a stay on the notification issued by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the recruitment of 45 joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries through lateral entry. In fact, this decision of the Centre came when the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said that recruitment through lateral entry is an ‘anti-national step’. He alleged that such action is openly snatching away the reservation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through RSS instead of UPSC. On the other hand, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had also warned of agitation in this matter. Even NDA allies JDU and LJP were opposing it. Only TDP was in support of it. In such a situation, questions are arising whether Modi came on the back foot by withdrawing the lateral entry recruitment? Or was it the pressure of the allies. Let us understand this. Let us also know how many people from Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Tribes are occupying the top posts in the country and how much truth is there in Rahul’s claims?

How correct is Rahul’s allegation of representation of the deprived in the bureaucracy?

Rahul said – I have always said that there is no representation of the deprived in all the top posts of the country including top bureaucrats. Instead of improving it, they are being further removed 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 deprived. Lateral entry has weakened the reservation rights of OBC, SC and ST.

Rahul got a big issue during the elections itself

Political expert Dr. Rajiv Ranjan Giri says that under Article 16 (4) of the Indian Constitution, a provision has been made that if in the eyes of the state, any backward class is not adequately represented in government jobs, then the government can take measures to provide reservation in jobs to that class or classes. He says that Rahul had also tried the reservation card in the Lok Sabha elections, which was quite successful. At that time, in the elections, Rahul had said that the BJP is giving the slogan of crossing 400 because if the government comes with full majority, the BJP will end the reservation by making constitutional amendment. This will be an attack on the Constitution. This narrative of Rahul reached every village. In the election results, while the UPA alliance got 239 seats, the BJP was limited to 240, far away from 272.

Why does BJP get cornered on the issue of reservation?

Dr. Rajiv Ranjan Giri, Assistant Professor at Delhi University, says that one of the biggest weaknesses of BJP is that it gets cornered on the issue of reservation by the opposition during elections. Its leaders make such statements on reservation that it goes from being aggressive on this issue to being defensive. The opposition uses the issue of reservation as a political weapon. Actually, BJP is considered to be a party of upper castes and businessmen. The opposition keeps capitalizing on this from time to time.

In the upcoming elections too, Rahul and Akhilesh can corner the BJP on the issue of reservation.

Reality: 1200 people entered the bureaucracy from the reserved quota in 5 years

Cabinet Minister of the Central Government Dr. Jitendra Singh recently said that recruitment in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is done as per the rules of the Union Public Service Commission. According to the current rules, SC gets 15%, ST gets 7.5% and OBC gets 27% reservation in the UPSC Civil Services Examination. The government said that in the last 5 years, 1,195 candidates from the reserved and backward class category were selected as IAS, IPS and IFS.

When and how many IAS-IPS were selected from the reserved quota

According to Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, in 2018, 54 IAS, 40 IPS and 40 IFS officers were made from OBC. This year, 29 IAS, 23 IPS, 16 IFS were recruited from SC quota. At the same time, 14 IAS, 9 IPS and 8 IFS officers were selected from ST category. In 2019, 103 IAS, 75 IPS and 53 IFS were selected.

100 IAS were selected from reserved quota in 2022

99 IAS, 74 IPS and 50 IFS officers were selected in 2020. At the same time, during 2021, 97 IAS, 99 IPS and 54 IFS officers belonging to SC, ST and OBC categories were appointed. In 2022, 100 IAS, 94 IPS and 64 IFS officers were selected under these categories.

In 2022, 68 quotas will be filled for the posts of Joint Secretary and Secretary

In response to a question asked in the Rajya Sabha on 15 December 2022, Union Personnel Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh had informed that there are 322 posts in the Central Government at the Joint Secretary and Secretary level, out of which 16, 13, 39 and 254 officers belong to SC, ST, OBC and General (Unreserved) categories respectively. In response to a question asked in the Rajya Sabha itself in 2022, the government informed that out of the 91 Additional Secretaries of the Government of India, there are only 10 officers from SC/ST and 4 from OBC. At the same time, out of 245 Joint Secretaries, there are only 26 officers from SC/ST and 29 from OBC.

The problem has been there since the UPA regime

According to Dr. Rajiv Ranjan Giri, as per the data of 2015, there was no OBC among the 70 secretaries of the UPA government and there were only 3 SC and 3 ST. Out of 278 joint secretaries, only 24 were OBC, while 10 were SC and 10 were ST.

What is lateral entry, which caused controversy

Lateral entry means direct recruitment of experts from the private sector. Through this, recruitment is done for the posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries in the ministries of the central government. Except those working in central public sector undertakings, autonomous agencies, educational bodies and universities, persons with a minimum of 15 years of experience working at an equivalent level in private sector businesses can join the bureaucracy. The minimum age of such people should be 45 years and the minimum qualification should be graduation from a recognized university or institute.

Chirag welcomed Modi’s decision

Earlier, BJP ally LJP leader and Union Minister Chirag Paswan had strongly criticized any initiative for government appointments, which are against the principles of reservation. He had said that such provisions are necessary in government jobs. Now that the government has withdrawn the recruitment, he also praised Modi for it.

JDU also in opposition, said – then Rahul will become the champion of the backward

Senior JDU leader KC Tyagi said, our party has been asking the government from the beginning to fill the reserved seats. We believe in Ram Manohar Lohia. When people have suffered backwardness in society for centuries, why are you looking for merit? They will misuse the advertisement of lateral entry. This will make Rahul Gandhi the champion of the backward. KC Tyagi believes that the government is giving an issue to the opposition through such decisions.

Akhilesh had said – take it back or else there will be agitation from October 2

SP President Akhilesh Yadav has termed lateral entry as a big conspiracy against the country. He has urged the officers and the youth that if the BJP government does not withdraw it, then stand shoulder to shoulder with us in starting a new movement from October 2.

Mayawati said – this is a direct violation of the Constitution

BSP supremo Mayawati said that the decision of direct recruitment to 45 higher posts of various categories in the Center is not correct because the employees working on lower posts through direct recruitment will be deprived of the benefits of promotion. She said that if people of SC, ST and OBC categories are not given appointment in proportion to their quota in these government appointments, then it will be a direct violation of the Constitution.

Ashwini Vaishnav said – this is the double policy of Congress

Minister in the Modi government, Ashwini Vaishnav, taking charge in this matter, said that this is the double policy of Congress. In 2005, the UPA government itself had started lateral entry. The second Administrative Reforms Commission constituted under the chairmanship of senior Congress president Veerappa Moily had recommended the recruitment of experts on the posts requiring experts. The NDA government implemented it in a transparent manner.

Such a system is also in Britain, America and Australia

The system of lateral entry is only in India. Western countries like Britain, America, Australia, Netherlands and Belgium have already opened specific government posts for qualified personnel from all fields. It has been found to be a better way to attract the best talent for the job.

Why was recruitment through lateral entry being opposed?

Many people are of the opinion that lateral entry can demotivate government officials, which can affect their performance. Due to the difference in work culture and institutional inertia, the best performance of government officials will be affected. They may face difficulty in coordinating. At the same time, people coming from outside may not understand that system completely. Apart from this, officers made through lateral entry will not have as much experience as an IAS officer. They may lack knowledge of practical aspects and may have more urban mentality. This will affect the making of policies at the higher level. The biggest fear of lateral entry is that it will lead to the appointment of government-supported candidates, which the government can take advantage of in some unfair way. Apart from this, there is also a concern that such officers can make policies favorable to business houses or pressure can be created on them.