Reservation policy should be followed in hirings via lateral entry: Backward classes body

In the memorandum, the union has stated that lateral entry recruitment goes against civil services aspirants from SC, ST and OBC communities. “The government started recruiting private sector persons through a different process than the usual selection process for a civil servant. This also raises concerns of transparency and objectivity in the recruitment process because in reply to an RTI, UPSC mentioned that there were no recruitment rules for lateral recruitment. These appointments raise  many concerns in the minds of civil services aspirants and people from the weaker sections such as SC, ST and OBCs,” the memorandum states.

In the Central government, 15 per cent posts are reserved for SCs, 7.5 per cent for STs and 27 per cent for OBCs. “However, in reply to an RTI we had filed, the Central government revealed that as of February 1, 2022, out of 443 officers of joint secretary, additional secretary and secretary rank officers in the Central government, only 72 officers were SCs, STs and OBCs. That means, only 16.25 per cent posts were held by officers from SCs, STs and OBC communities against 49.5 per cent reserved for them,” Makwana says.

The NUBCSSM convenor said that a 1968 memorandum of the Central government mandates that any recruitment by the Central government for 45 days or longer should follow the reservation policy. “However, the Central government is not following the reservation roster while recruiting officers through the lateral entry route by treating vacancies as isolated and not as a group,” he said.