Congress pans lateral entry into central jobs as attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis, cites ‘91%’ jump in contract recruitment

The Union Public Service Commission on August 17 issued an advertisement seeking applications for “talented and motivated Indian nationals for Lateral Recruitment” to the posts of joint secretary, director, and deputy secretary in 24 ministries of the Union Government.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge sought to explain “why the Modi government’s lateral entry provision is an attack on the Constitution”.

“Instead of filling jobs in government departments, BJP has eliminated 5.1 lakh posts in the last 10 years by selling off Government of India’s shares in PSUs alone,” he wrote on X. “There has been an increase of 91% in casual and contract recruitment. SC, ST, OBC posts have been reduced by 1.3 lakh by 2022-23.”

Defending the lateral entry done under the Congress governments in the past, Kharge said, “We brought in a select group of Lateral Entry specialists and experts to place them in certain sector-specific positions as per their fitment.”

Kharge alleged that the “Modi government has made the provision of Lateral Entry not to appoint experts in the government but to snatch the rights of Dalits, tribals and backward classes”. “The posts of SC, ST, OBC, EWS will now be given to people of RSS. This is the BJP’s Chakravyuh to change the Constitution by snatching away the reservation,” the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha added.

Responding to the Congress attack, the BJP’s IT cell head, Amit Malviya, wrote on X on Sunday that the truth was that such lateral recruitments used to be done without any process during the Congress-led UPA’s rule.

“By eliminating that ad-hocism, the government of India has now ensured that lateral entries are made on the basis of established guidelines so that there is no impact on the quota and reservation system,” he said.

Malviya cited the official memorandum issued by the central Department of Personnel and Training in 2016, which stipulated that lateral recruitments must follow the reservation roster and maintain the prescribed ratio for SC, ST, OBC and persons with disability candidates. He referred to a 2019 memorandum from DoPT which reiterated that lateral entries should be according to the reservation policy and roster maintenance.

The BJP leader also cited an office memorandum issued by the home ministry in 2020 emphasising the need for strict adherence to the reservation guidelines in lateral entries.