Two days after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) sought applications for lateral entry into the government from the private sector
, state governments and Public Sector Enterprises, the central government on Tuesday announced the rollback of the decision
, marking the first such instance in the Modi 3.0 government.
Today, the Centre wrote to the UPSC asking it to withdraw the advertisement for lateral entry recruitments. On Saturday, the UPSC sought applications for lateral entry for 45 posts of Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary across 24 central ministries which will be filled on a contract basis by September 17. The move triggered a
flurry of reactions from the Opposition as well as the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) . Congress MP and leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was among the first to launch a no-holds-barred attack against the Narendra Modi government over the decision.
On Monday, Rahul termed the UPSC move an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis. “Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ instead of Union Public Service Commission. Reservation of SC, ST and OBC categories is being openly snatched away by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts in various ministries of the central government,” Rahul said on Sunday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also dubbed the decision an attack on the Constitution.
“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,” Kharge said.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav was equally scathing in his attack against the decision. “The whole plan is to snatch away reservation and rights from PDA 9Pichda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak). Now that BJP has come to know that PDAs across the country have woken up against BJP’s ploy to abolish the Constitution, it wants to deny reservation by making direct recruitment to such posts under some other pretext,” Akhilesh said in a post on X, adding that the BJP government should immediately withdraw it.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati also criticized the decision and said that employees working at lower positions would be deprived of the benefits of promotion. “If people from 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. And filling these high posts by direct appointment without making any rules would be arbitrary on the part of the BJP government, which would be illegal and unconstitutional,” she said.
As the government battled the Opposition’s tirade against the Centre, rumblings had begun within the NDA fold as well. Key NDA partners including Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) were critical of the move while the Telugu Desam Party supported it.
“We are a party that has been asking governments to fill quotas since inception. We are followers of Ram Manohar Lohia. When people have been socially disadvantaged for centuries, why are you seeking merit? This order by the government is a matter of serious concern for us,” said JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi, adding that the decision has invariably given the Opposition an issue to beat the NDA with on a platter.
“Those opposed to the NDA will misuse this advertisement. Rahul Gandhi will become a champion of the socially disadvantaged. We should not be giving a weapon in the hands of the Opposition,” he added.
LJP’s Paswan also expressed displeasure at the UPSC’s advertisement on Saturday. “Reservation provisions must be there in any government appointment. There are no ifs and buts in this. No reservation exists in the private sector and if it is not implemented in government positions as well…it is a matter of concern for me,” he told PTI, adding that his party was “absolutely not in support” of lateral entry without reservation.
The rollback, which reportedly happened after the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appears to have been prompted by the Opposition’s attempts to paint the decision as “anti-reservation”. The BJP treats the reservation issue as sensitive and multiple leaders, including top leaders like Modi and Amit Shah, have reassured that the government has no plans to alter the Constitution or the existing reservation apparatus.
In his letter to the UPSC, Union minister Jitendra Singh said that PM Modi is of the firm belief that the process of lateral entry must be aligned with the “principles of equity and social justice enshrined in the Constitution, particularly concerning the provisions of reservation”.
Singh said for the PM, reservation in public employment is a cornerstone of our social justice framework, aimed at addressing historical injustices and promoting inclusivity.
