Lateral entry in top jobs: Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, called the government's decision to recruit public servants through lateral entry an 'anti-national step', alleging that it is 'openly snatching away' reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs.
The former Congress president also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of 'attacking the Constitution' by recruiting public servants through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) rather than the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The Congress MP's criticism came after the revelation that 45 specialists would soon be appointed to key positions such as Joint Secretaries, Directors, and Deputy Secretaries across various central ministries. Typically, these roles are filled by officers from all-India services—such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Forest Service (IFoS)—as well as Group A services and others.
'Reservations are being openly snatched'
"Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting civil servants through the 'Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh' instead of the Union Public Service Commission. "Reservation of SC, ST and OBC classes is being openly snatched away by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts in various ministries of the central government," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
"I have always said that the underprivileged are not represented in all the country's top posts, including the top bureaucracy. Instead of improving it, they are being pushed further away from the top posts through lateral entry," he said. "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 underprivileged," he alleged.
'Privatisation of the IAS is Modi's guarantee for ending reservation'
"The SEBI is a vivid example of what representatives of a few corporates will do by sitting on decisive government posts, where for the first time a person from the private sector was made the chairperson, Gandhi said in an apparent reference to the conflicts of interest allegations against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch. The INDIA bloc will strongly oppose this anti-national step that hurts both the administrative structure and social justice," Gandhi said.
"Privatisation of the IAS is Modi's guarantee for ending reservation," he added.
Notably, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Saturday advertised 45 posts -- 10 of joint secretaries and 35 of directors/deputy secretaries -- to be filled through the lateral entry mode on a contract basis. It is the biggest tranche of lateral recruitment being undertaken by the Centre, an official said.
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