After outrage, Govt asks UPSC to cancel lateral entry advertisement
A day after Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi’s criticism, Narendra Modi government asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to cancel its latest advertisement issued for lateral entry recruitment.
New Delhi: A day after Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi’s criticism, Narendra Modi government asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to cancel its latest advertisement issued for lateral entry recruitment.
In a letter written to UPSC Chairperson Preeti Sudan, Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh cited Prime Minister Modi’s “pursuit of social justice and empowerment” behind the decision.
“The Prime Minister is of the firm belief that the process of lateral entry must be aligned with the principles of equity and social justice enshrined in our Constitution, particularly concerning the provisions of reservation,” the letter said.
“It is important that the constitutional mandate towards social justice is upheld so that deserving candidates from marginalized communities get their rightful representation in the government services”, he said.
The minister in his letter to the UPSC Chairperson further wrote:
“Since the positions have been treated as specialized and designated as single-cadre posts, there has been no provision for reservation in these appointments. This aspect needs to be reviewed and reformed in the context of Prime Minister Modi’s focus on ensuring social justice. Hence, I urge the UPSC to cancel the advertisement for lateral entry recruitment issued on August 17, 2024”, the minister said.
"Anti-National Step"
The UPSC in an advertisement on August 17, 2024 sought to fill for 45 posts, including Joint Secretaries, Directors, and Deputy Secretaries in different Central Ministries through the lateral entry mode.
These posts are normally filled by the UPSC through the Civil Services Exams. Soon after the advertisement, LoP Rahul Gandhi slammed the lateral entry advertisement saying it was an attack on certain communities of India which include Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis, and calling it an "anti-national step".
“Lateral entry is an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis. BJP’s distorted version of Ram Rajya seeks to destroy the Constitution and snatch reservations from Bahujans,” Rahul Gandhi wrote on social media platform X.
The move was also opposed by Modi allies Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
But, Union Minister Jitendra Singh defended the UPSC lateral entry advertisement in turn accusing the governments before 2014 of “favouritism”.
“Under earlier governments, posts as important as that of Secretary in various ministries, leadership of UIDIA etc have been given to lateral entrants without following any process of reservations.
“While most of the major lateral entries before 2014 were made in an ad-hoc manner, including cases of alleged favouritism, efforts of our government have been to make the process institutionally driven, transparent and open”, the minister said in his letter to the UPSC Chairperson.
(The featured image used here for representation is generated by DALL-E3 AI.)
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
Post Comments